UNEB Extends Registration Deadline for 2026 National Examinations

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has extended the registration period for candidates sitting the 2026 national examinations at Primary Seven (P7), Senior Four (S4), and Senior Six (S6) levels.

In the same regard, UNEB Executive Director, Dan Odongo, announced that the deadline for normal registration has been extended from May 31 to June 30, 2026.

According to Odongo, the extension is intended to give newly accredited examination centres enough time to complete the registration of their candidates. He explained that the new deadline applies to both newly accredited and existing examination centres.

Odongo, however, cautioned schools against waiting until the final days to register candidates, warning against what he described as the “deadline syndrome.”

He added that late registration will now run from July 1 to July 31, 2026, stressing that no candidate will be registered after July 31.

According to the board’s guidelines, late registration attracts a surcharge, with candidates at Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) level paying an additional 100 per cent, while those at Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) levels will pay an extra 50 per cent.

According to UNEB, privately sponsored candidates are required to pay registration fees of 34,000 Shillings for PLE, 164,000 Shillings for UCE, and 186,000 Shillings for the UACE.

By Friday morning, UNEB data showed strong progress in the registration exercise. Out of the expected 880,000 PLE candidates, 673,992 had already been registered, representing about 77 per cent of the target.

For UCE, UNEB expects to register close to 500,000 candidates this year, with 299,483 already registered by Friday morning. At the UACE level, the board targets about 180,000 candidates, of whom 109,718 have already been registered.

Meanwhile, UNEB has issued guidelines for Senior Four candidates registering for the 2026 examinations. According to the board, only candidates who sat their Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) in 2022 or earlier are eligible to register for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations. UNEB guidelines also require candidates to register for a minimum of eight subjects and a maximum of nine subjects.

In addition, schools are required to submit candidates’ Continuous Assessment (CA) scores and project work scores obtained in Senior Three (S3) as part of the registration requirements. The Board has advised that “candidates whose CA scores have been submitted to UNEB should not change names or optional subjects at S4.”

For repeaters at the UCE level, candidates must present complete scores for all subjects taken in both Senior Three and Senior Four, including project work.

As is customary, UNEB has warned schools against charging parents or candidates fees above the official amounts set by the Board. The Board has also directed schools to display the list of registered candidates publicly.

Odongo further encouraged candidates to verify registration by checking the displayed registers at school or by sending the candidate’s index number via SMS to the short code 6600 (the same code used for checking examination results).

Despite repeated sensitisation campaigns by UNEB, cases of candidates missing national examinations due to non-registration continue to occur every year. This remains one of the most heartbreaking challenges in Uganda’s education system, often leaving students and parents in deep distress and panic on the very first day of exams.

A widely reported and shocking incident that highlighted this problem, which occurred last year, was at Cream Field Vocational Senior Secondary School in Nakifuma, Mukono District, where over 15 Senior Four students turned up in full school uniform, ready to sit their UCE examinations, only to discover they were not on the UNEB register.

The school director allegedly went into hiding as angry parents and students stormed the premises. Many parents broke down in tears, with some collapsing in shock and disbelief at the betrayal, but it was too late for UNEB to help.