UCE 2023 PERFORMANCE: Here’s Full Briefing on Best, Worst Done Subjects, Performance by Gender — and Examination Malpractice

UCE 2023 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY: Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) and the Ministry of Education and Sports have released UCE 2023 results, indicating an improvement in performance. Here is the full briefing on the best and worst done subjects, performance by gender, and the issue of examination malpractice (cheating), as detailed by executive director and secretary Dan Odongo.

Candidature increased by 15,008 (4.3%) from 349,459, in 2022 to 364,469 in 2023. The candidates sat from 3,808 examination centres. Of these candidates, 118,633 (32.5%) were USE beneficiaries. The number of male candidates registered was 180,471 (49.5%) and that of females was 183,998 (50.5%).

GENERAL UCE 2023 PERFORMANCE

Uneb boss Dan Odongo said the UCE 2023 candidates performed better than their 2022 colleagues. There was a reduction in the failure rate as well.

“Performance in the 2023 examination is significantly better than that of 2022. The failure rate has also dropped by 0.5 percent. This means that 329,939 (95.9%) of the learners who presented themselves for the 2023 examination can progress to the post-UCE level,” said Odongo during the release of the results at State House Nakasero on Thursday, February 15, 2024.

UCE 2023 PERFORMANCE BY SUBJECTS (BEST, WORST DONE)

Odongo said there was improvement in performance in English Language, Religious Education, Mathematics and Biology. Notably, there has been improvement in the English Language question approach.

“There is a significant improvement in English Language, Religious Education, Mathematics and Biology. Noticeable drops were recorded History, Agriculture and Physics. Performance in the other subjects have remained comparable,” noted Odongo.

“In English language, the presentation of crammed passages from texts in response to the question on original composition writing has greatly reduced, which may explain the significant improvement in the candidate.”

But Uneb remains worried about performance in science subjects.

“Performance in the sciences continues to be a cause for concern, with less than 20 per cent of the candidates obtaining Credit pass levels in Physics and Chemistry, and 40 per cent or more unable to pass. It is worth noting, however, the upturn in performance in Biology, which has been recording a steady decline,” explained the Uneb executive director.

“Examiners have attributed the low achievement levels in science subjects to a number of factors, main among which are inadequate teaching, manifesting in the inability of the learners to master the basic scientific concepts; lack of practical teaching, manifesting in the learners’ inability to manipulate science apparatus and carry out the procedures prescribed in the examination papers and interpret any readings or observations that could have been made. There are schools that have been reported to have no science teachers, which exacerbate the problem. Most of the examination malpractice cases at this level are in the practical papers.”

UCE 2023 PERFORMANCE BY GENDER

As has been the case, females beat boys in English Language but males shone in Chemistry.

“Female candidates performed better than males in English Language. In the other subjects, males perform better, with the differences being very significant in History, Geography, the Sciences and Commerce,”  noted Odongo.

“In Chemistry, however, the male candidates show better performance in the higher grades but, overall, a slightly higher percentage of females obtained at least a Pass. This trend in the disparity in the performance of male and female candidates has been observed over the years.”

UCE 2023 EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

Odongo also talked about examination malpractice in the 2023 UCE examinations.

Uneb will inform schools whose results have been withheld over examination malpractice.

“Cases of examination malpractice have continued to reduce. Most of the ones reported in this examination were external assistance given in the examination rooms, and affecting mostly Physics and Chemistry practical examination, and Mathematics,” he said.

“Affected schools whose results are withheld will be notified through their Portals. They will also be notified of the dates of the hearings.”

You can see list of top best performing schools in previous UCE sittings Here.

LIST: Here are Uganda’s Best Schools in Sciences (2024 Rankings)

FULL LIST of Best Performing UCE 2023 Schools Per District in Uganda

LIST: Here are Uganda’s Best Schools in Chemistry in UCE 2023

LIST: Top 125 Best Performing UCE 2023 Schools in Buganda (Central Uganda) Region

LIST: Western Uganda’s Best UCE 2023 Schools Named

UCE 2023 STARS: St Kana SS Bushenyi Excels in Sciences

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