S6 candidates grading set to change in 2028

Early this year, the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) said it was putting the finishing touches on changes to the grading system for A-Level under the new Advanced Secondary Curriculum.

The Executive Director of Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) Mr Dan Odongo, says the grading system for A-Level candidates will change after the curriculum reform process is completed in 2028.

“The A-Level curriculum has not been reformed in the same manner that the O-Level (competence-based syllabus) has evolved. The grading is not going to change much. However, we have put proposals to the NCDC board in the meeting … and we shall prepare a circular to guide or inform schools and other stakeholders,” Mr Odongo said during an interview in his office in Kyambogo, Kampala on Monday last week.

He further explained that A-Level grading will remain the same but the need to change it may be effected around 2028, in case the curriculum is eventually properly reformed into a Competence - Based Curriculum (CBC).

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What will the new grading look like?

Mr Odongo explained that the current nomenclature or letter grades will remain, but the meaning behind those letters may change. The letter grades will have descriptors to tell the meaning of different letter grades.

He noted that the current A-Level curriculum and the pedagogy have been aligned to the Competence-Based system but it is yet to be fully reformed.

“It has been aligned to take into account the fact that we have learners coming from O-Level, where they were exposed to a CBC,” Odongo added.

Mr Gilbert Gift Siima, the manager of the Secondary Department at NCDC, explained that the system will shift from the current letter grades A, B, C, D, E, O, F to A, B, C, D, E.

“Yes, it is going to be A, B, C, D, E but what is important in that A, B, C, D, E is the descriptor that talks about what a candidate has achieved. In essence, it is not the grades that put food on the table but what this candidate can do. These grading discussions will continue up to the point of release of the results of the first cohort of the aligned A-Level Curriculum,” he explained.

Mr Siima explained that under the new arrangement, two students may both earn an A in Fine Art, but the descriptors will distinguish their levels of achievement.

He added: “The procedure of coming up with the final grade is still ongoing. But we are confident with the preliminary results. As we continue piloting, and testing, Uneb will do further tests to facilitate some slight adjustments as the need arises.”

The proposed grading system for A-Level comes a year, after government changed the O-Level grading system in 2024, moving from a numerical grading system of distinction, credits, passes and failures, to a letter grading system.

The changes also align A-Level with the new competence-based secondary curriculum, focusing on specific learner descriptors and practical skills rather than traditional rankings. The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) grading system evaluates candidates using principal subjects, subsidiary passes, and specific percentage mark ranges.

Principal and subsidiaries

Students typically take three principal subjects. Performance is graded from A, B, C, D, E (passes) down to O (subsidiary pass) and F (fail).

Subsidiary Subjects include the mandatory General Paper (GEP) and Subsidiary Mathematics or ICT, which will be graded on a scale where distinctions and credits earn a point, and lower passes/fails earn none.

Calculation System: Traditionally, principal grades map to points (A=6 down to E =2 under old weights, while the proposed new grading system will have A=5 down to E=1, and blends school-based continuous assessments (20 percent) with end-of-cycle national exams (80 percent). The maximum scoring ceiling is 20 total points, subsidiaries included.

For now, Mr Odongo says A-Level assessment has been changed to become scenario based.

“We recently concluded sending sample questions to schools so that they are aware of the tasks that the learners are going to do,” he explained.