PLE Results: Kisoro, Kampala lead districts with most withheld exam results

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has revealed a sharp escalation in examination malpractice during the 2025 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), with Kisoro and Kampala emerging among the districts with the highest number of results withheld pending investigations.

Speaking during the official release of the 2025 PLE results, UNEB Executive Director Dan Odongo described the malpractice as increasingly brazen and deeply troubling. 

He disclosed that in some centres, scouts and invigilators were either bribed or threatened with physical harm by school directors and headteachers to allow teachers to directly assist candidates inside examination rooms.

Odongo expressed concern that some officers within District Education Offices, who are expected to play a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of examinations, have instead become complicit in unprofessional and illegal practices. 

He singled out Namutumba District, where the District Inspector of Schools was arrested, as one of several hotspots of malpractice.

In line with Section 5(2)(b) of the UNEB Act, Cap. 259, Odongo said the board has withheld results for affected candidates as investigations continue. 

Where sufficient evidence is found, cases will be presented before the UNEB Tribunal—also known as the Examinations Security Committee—which will grant all affected candidates a fair hearing before final decisions are taken.

This year, most of the withheld results originated from Kisoro, Kampala, Mukono, Namutumba, Kassanda, Buyende and Kaliro districts. However, Odongo commended Kyenjojo, Kabarole and Bundibugyo for notable improvements, highlighting Kyenjojo as a model district where firm administrative action taken in 2024 resulted in zero malpractice cases in 2025.

Board Chairperson Celestine Obua painted an even grimmer picture, attributing the surge in cheating to growing desperation among school proprietors and headteachers. 

He revealed that some headteachers, working with compromised scouts, tampered with sealed examination envelopes immediately upon delivery to access question papers before or during examinations.

Investigations traced the epicentre of the malpractice to a private school in Kassanda District. Arrests followed, including the district inspector of schools, the school director, headteacher and invigilators who were intercepted in Nansana, Kampala. 

Further probes uncovered networks of collaborating schools that shared examination materials through specially created WhatsApp groups.

So far, eight people have been convicted and sentenced by courts, while others are out on bail and five suspects remain on remand. Security teams are still pursuing additional suspects who are on the run. 

Obua said the board hopes courts will impose deterrent sentences under the UNEB Act.

He linked the malpractice to the obsession with Aggregate 4, which he described as the benchmark parents use to rank schools. 

Obua renewed UNEB’s 2021 proposal to abolish the aggregate grading system, urging the Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, to allow its reintroduction and implementation as a long-term solution to curb examination cheating.