8 answers, 4 from Uganda's own official bodies, with a link to each figure.
Uganda's primary and secondary schools have three terms in 2026: 2 February to 1 May, 25 May to 21 August, and 14 September to 4 December, according to the Ministry of Education and Sports' 2026 school calendar of 24 November 2025.
The terms add up to 260 days, with holidays of 23 days after each of the first two terms and 58 days from 5 December 2026 to 31 January 2027. New Senior One students reported on 16 February and Senior Five on 23 February. The ministry says terms should not be cut short without written permission from the Permanent Secretary, and that boarding schools in Kampala should stagger opening and closing dates.
1,605,501 candidates had provisionally registered for UNEB's 2026 exams by 30 June 2026, according to a UNEB press statement. Of these, 915,614 were registered for the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), 490,817 for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and 199,070 for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
The figure was provisional, as late registration with a surcharge continued in July. Normal registration fees were Shs 34,000 for PLE, Shs 164,000 for UCE and Shs 186,000 for UACE. Candidates in government-funded UPE, USE and UPOLET schools had to be registered in the normal period. UNEB publishes timetables and results on its website.
Uganda's government has allocated Shs 6.66 trillion to education in 2026/27, according to the Budget Speech of 11 June 2026. Priorities include access to Universal Primary and Secondary Education, STEM and vocational education, teacher welfare and curriculum reform.
Within this, Shs 568.65 billion more goes to salaries for primary teachers and arts teachers in secondary schools and BTVET institutions. Total government spending on education was 2.56% of GDP in 2022, according to UNESCO data on World Bank Open Data. The budget figure includes sports, as the speech groups education, skills and sports together.
77.0% of adults aged 15 and over in Uganda could read and write in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics data on World Bank Open Data, read on 15 October 2026.
The literacy rate counts people who can read and write a short simple statement about their everyday life, usually as reported in a census or household survey. It does not measure reading level. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics compiles the underlying figures, but its website could not be reached on 15 October 2026.
The figures below use one definition for every country, so they can differ from national figures.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2024, is 77.0%. Since 2006 it has ranged from 68.5% (2014) to 80.5% (2023). Across Sub-Saharan Africa the middle value was 77.0%, and Uganda placed 4th highest of 7.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics puts government spending on education in Uganda at 2.6% of GDP in 2022. Its high point since 2010 was 2021, at 2.6% of GDP; its low point was 2010, at 1.7% of GDP. Sub-Saharan Africa median: 3.2% of GDP; Uganda is 30th highest of 39. Worldwide: 132nd of 155.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2017, is 43. It is the bottom of the series, which starts in 2005. Across Sub-Saharan Africa the middle value was 39, and Uganda placed 7th highest of 27. Worldwide: 9th of 130.
The latest figure from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, for 2017, is 53.3%. Since 2005 it has ranged from 51.9% (2007) to 73.9% (2009). It is 23rd highest of 26 in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the median is 68.9%. Of 129 countries with 2017 data, 126th highest.
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