Kampala, (UG):- The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Friday released the results from the 2024 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE), with female candidates yet again outperforming their male counterparts in terms of overall performance despite being fewer in number.
Speaking at State House Nakasero during the release of the results, UNEB Executive Director Daniel Odongo revealed that a total of 140,888 candidates sat for the examinations. Of these, 61,598 were female, and 79,290 were male.
Whereas males had a higher percentage of passes at the upper levels (three Principal and two Principal passes), females performed better at the lower levels, with a lower failure rate. In terms of performance, 26,928 female candidates achieved three Principal passes, compared to 27,410 males.
Odongo added that 16,962 females attained 2 Principal passes, while 20,973 males reached the same level. A total of 11,058 females received one Principal pass, compared to 18,175 males, while 6,212 females achieved one Subsidiary pass compared to 11,538 males.
“Just as we have observed over the years, female candidates, although fewer in number than the male candidates, have performed proportionally better than their male counterparts. The percentage passes at the upper levels (3P and 2P) are higher, while percentage passes at the lower levels and failure rate among female candidates are lower than for the males,” Mr Odongo said.
In the results released, it was revealed that only 438 females failed the examination, compared to 1,194 males, another indicator of the female performance outshining the males.
At the subject level, females still performed better than males in Humanities, while males outperformed females in most Sciences. However, in Physics, female candidates outshone their male counterparts.
UNEB Chairperson, Prof Celestine Obua, speaking earlier at the function, noted that female performance has remained consistently strong over the years. “Female candidates have maintained the trend of outperforming their male counterparts in terms of percentages at all levels and have shown a lower failure rate,” he said, adding that “most females tend to take Humanities, where they have also done better than males.”
Despite the strong performance of females in the 2024 UACE, the Board noted that overall, the males generally outperformed females when you consider previous education stages, such as the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), which were released earlier in the year.
A total of 141,996 candidates registered for the 2024 UACE examination compared to 110,566 candidates in 2023, an increase of 31,4430 candidates (28.4%). Of these, 61,957 (43.6%) were females, and 80,039 (56.4%) were males. Males also accounted for 53.1% (16,695) of the increased candidature.
Mr Odongo also revealed that cases of malpractice at this level have remained low, with results from only 38 out of 2,255 examination centres still withheld by the board over suspected malpractice. “In accordance with Section 5(2) (b) of the UNEB Act, Cap 259, those results will be withheld pending completion of investigations. Cases were reported from 38 centres out of the 2,255 centres,” he said.
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