Uneb set to overhaul A-Level grading system

• Uganda plans to reform A-Level grading when the competence-based curriculum is completed in 2028.

• The proposed system will use grades A to E and attach competence descriptors to each grade.

• Continuous assessment will contribute 20 per cent, while national examinations will account for 80 per cent.

• Uneb has started introducing scenario-based assessment and distributing sample questions to schools.

Uganda’s A-Level grading system is expected to change by 2028 as the government completes reforms to the upper secondary curriculum.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) executive director, Dan Odongo, said the changes will follow the full transition of A-Level to a competence-based curriculum.

The planned reform comes after the government changed the O-Level grading system in 2024, replacing the old distinctions, credits, passes and failures with letter grades.

According to CampusBee, Odongo said that A-Level has not yet undergone the same curriculum reform as O-Level.

He said proposals have already been submitted to the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) board. A circular will guide schools and other stakeholders once the changes are approved.

Odongo said the current A-Level curriculum and teaching methods have been adjusted to accommodate learners emerging from the competence-based O-Level system.

However, the full A-Level curriculum reform is not expected until around 2028. Until then, the grading structure will remain largely unchanged.

Under the proposed system, letter grades will remain, but each grade will carry a description of what a learner has demonstrated.

NCDC Secondary Department manager Gilbert Gift Siima said the current A, B, C, D, E, O and F grading scale will be reduced to A, B, C, D and E.

He said the descriptors attached to each grade will carry more meaning than the letter itself.

For example, two Fine Art candidates could both receive an A, but their descriptors may show different levels of competence based on what each learner can demonstrate.

Siima said Uneb is still testing how final grades will be determined. The examinations body will continue piloting the system and making adjustments until results from the first cohort under the aligned A-Level curriculum are released.

Under the current system, students usually take three principal subjects. Grades A to E are considered principal passes, while O is a subsidiary pass and F is a fail.

Principal grades currently carry points ranging from six for an A to two for an E.

Under the proposed arrangement, an A would carry five points and an E one point.

The system would also combine continuous assessment, contributing 20 per cent of the final score, with national examinations carrying 80 per cent.

The maximum score, including subsidiary subjects, would be 20 points.

Odongo said A-Level assessment has already started moving towards scenario-based questions.

Uneb has distributed sample questions to schools to familiarise teachers and learners with the type of tasks candidates will face.