Kampala, (UG):- The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has explained the significant changes in the O’level grading system for S.4 candidates who sat for the 2024 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations under the New Lower Secondary Curriculum (NLSC).
The Board Chairperson UNEB, Prof Celestino Obua, explained during the official release of the 2024 UCE results on Tuesday at State House Nakasero that the grading system has now transitioned from the previous stanine system (1 to 9) used in the content-based curriculum categorized results as Distinctions, Credits, Pass, and Fail; to a new letter grading system: A, B, C, D, and E.
“The transcript, which previously consisted of the result slip and certificate, will now reflect this new format in content presentation,” Prof Obua stated.
He further noted that the board carefully evaluated several grading options before settling on the letter grade format. “The Board considered several options with various amounts of content. The Board’s decision was guided by the following considerations: (i) the report/transcript/certificate issued must be simple for all stakeholders to easily understand. (ii) the descriptors – explanations of the meaning of the grades – should be positive on what the holder of the certificate can do.
Under the new UNEB grading system:
- A – Exceptional Achievement – equivalent to D1, D2
- B – Outstanding Performance – equivalent to C3, C4
- C – Satisfactory Performance – equivalent to C5, C6
- D – Basic Understanding – equivalent to P7, P8
- E – Elementary Understanding – equivalent to F9
Mr Dan Odongo, the Executive Director of UNEB explained that under the competency-based assessment, there is no ranking of candidates into Divisions as in the previous curriculum. “A candidate will qualify for the UCE Certificate if he/she obtains a competency level grade of D in at least one subject they sat for,” he said.
The 2024 UCE Results
According to the released results, a total of 359,417 candidates were registered as the first cohort for the examination. Of these, 177,133 (49-3%) were males, while 182,284 (50.7%) were females. 136,785 (38.1%) were beneficiaries of the USE programme, and 222,632 (61.9%) were non-USE.
Additionally, a total of 357,120 (99.4%) candidates were present for the examination. Only 2,297 (0.6%) were absent, posing a significant drop in the rate of absenteeism.
The overall results, according to Mr Odongo, show that 350,146 (98.05%) of the candidates who sat qualified for the UCE certificate. This will be indicated on the Transcript and Certificate as Result 1.
“The candidates who did not fulfil the conditions for the award of the UCE certificate will have Result 2 indicated on their transcripts. These are candidates who did not sit for some compulsory subjects, or did not sit for a minimum of eight subjects, or who have no Project Work scores,” he said.
The new grading system change is a result of the implementation by the Ministry of Education to ensure a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) for learners in lower secondary schools.
The curriculum rolled out in 2020, introduced new assessment components such as Continuous Assessment (CA) and Project Work, alongside the traditional End-of-Cycle examination.
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