UNEB Probes Exam Mix-Up After Candidates Receive 2024 Paper During 2025 UACE Exams

The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) has launched an investigation into a puzzling mix-up after candidates sitting for the ongoing 2025 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations were mistakenly issued a 2024 examination paper at one of the centres on Tuesday morning.

Confusion rippled through examination rooms when students expecting to tackle the 2025 Economics Paper 2 found that the papers handed to them were labelled 2024 instead. Alarmed candidates quickly raised the issue, prompting UNEB officials to intervene. However, supervisors and head teachers were instructed to reassure students that the paper was still valid.

“Please take note that the year should read 2025 and not 2024 as indicated on the examination paper. Candidates should proceed with the examination,” read a statement issued by the Board to field officials.

Early field reports suggest the error stemmed from a packaging and distribution mix-up, in which old stock of 2024 exam papers was accidentally bundled with the 2025 materials.

UNEB spokesperson Jennifer Kalule confirmed the incident, revealing that a team had been dispatched to the affected school to uncover the cause and safeguard the credibility of the national exams.

“You can check last year’s paper. It is totally different from this one. The year was an error,” Kalule said.

“We understand the outrage because the public holds us in high regard, and rightly so. UNEB is committed to transparency and excellence, and we are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.”

Kalule emphasized that the misprint does not invalidate the examination, assuring candidates that their papers will be marked under standard procedures. According to UNEB, no student will be disadvantaged by the error.

The Board also clarified that the incident was not an exam leak or act of malpractice, but a logistical oversight that is now being corrected.

Over 110,000 candidates are currently sitting for the 2025 UACE examinations across Uganda, which entered their second week today.

This latest blunder, however, has reignited scrutiny over UNEB’s examination management systems, particularly the security and accuracy of its packaging and distribution processes.