Isaac Newton students at the start of their first UCE exam
The recently published results for the Uganda Certificate in Education (O-level) examination taken at the end of 2025 showed further improvement in the performance of Humanist schools.
With 176 candidates, Isaac Newton Humanist High School had the largest ever exam cohort in the school’s history. Yet, larger numbers have not lowered standards. In contrast performance has shown further improvement.
The school’s performance put it in the top 10% of schools in Uganda (365th out of 3,789 high schools in the country).
This is quite remarkable for a rural school that was at the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic just a few year ago – when half of the working age population died leaving many orphan children. The school has triumphed despite the low income and education levels of local families and low funding compared with better endowed urban schools.
Distribution of pass grades at Isaac Newton
The table above shows a fuller picture. All students gained an overall pass. Whereas a majority of students nationally gained C,D and E grades, the results at Isaac Newton were skewed towards the top end of the grade distribution. High grades in English are quite remarkable in a rural school where the spoken language is Luganda. A really good performance across the sciences is particularly commendable and justifies the school’s motto “To Reason not to Believe“.
Students educated at Isaac Newton School gain a strong foundation, which enables them to move on to UACE (A-level), vocational courses and to gain employment in trades and services. The school’s success has come through steady improvement over the past 20 years. Teachers have become more experienced and improved their qualifications and the quality of students coming in from primary school is getting better. This will be boosted further as children who have gained a strong foundation in Isaac Newton Humanist Primary School progress through the high school.
Kasese Humanist Municipal High School is at the start of the improvement process. The school had a second cohort of 16 students taking UCE. It has already showed improvement on last year, when a few students failed to gain the certificate. Every child in the 2025 cohort recorded an overall pass. Many students gained lower pass grades but many middle grade Cs were achieved too. This year no student gained one of the top two grades of A or B, but we are hopeful that things will improve next year as teachers gain experience and improve their qualifications and also as the quality of students coming into the school improves. This year the school has continued to attract bright children from Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School who gained grades 1 in their Primary Leaving Examinations.
Onward and upward! The Humanist schools are giving hope of a better life to local children from very poor homes. They are very grateful to UHST supporters for helping them along the path of improvement.
UCE O Level success at Humanist Schools
Posted: March 2, 2026 by Steve Hurd
The recently published results for the Uganda Certificate in Education (O-level) examination taken at the end of 2025 showed further improvement in the performance of Humanist schools.
With 176 candidates, Isaac Newton Humanist High School had the largest ever exam cohort in the school’s history. Yet, larger numbers have not lowered standards. In contrast performance has shown further improvement.
The school’s performance put it in the top 10% of schools in Uganda (365th out of 3,789 high schools in the country).
This is quite remarkable for a rural school that was at the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic just a few year ago – when half of the working age population died leaving many orphan children. The school has triumphed despite the low income and education levels of local families and low funding compared with better endowed urban schools.
The table above shows a fuller picture. All students gained an overall pass. Whereas a majority of students nationally gained C,D and E grades, the results at Isaac Newton were skewed towards the top end of the grade distribution. High grades in English are quite remarkable in a rural school where the spoken language is Luganda. A really good performance across the sciences is particularly commendable and justifies the school’s motto “To Reason not to Believe“.
Students educated at Isaac Newton School gain a strong foundation, which enables them to move on to UACE (A-level), vocational courses and to gain employment in trades and services. The school’s success has come through steady improvement over the past 20 years. Teachers have become more experienced and improved their qualifications and the quality of students coming in from primary school is getting better. This will be boosted further as children who have gained a strong foundation in Isaac Newton Humanist Primary School progress through the high school.
Kasese Humanist Municipal High School is at the start of the improvement process. The school had a second cohort of 16 students taking UCE. It has already showed improvement on last year, when a few students failed to gain the certificate. Every child in the 2025 cohort recorded an overall pass. Many students gained lower pass grades but many middle grade Cs were achieved too. This year no student gained one of the top two grades of A or B, but we are hopeful that things will improve next year as teachers gain experience and improve their qualifications and also as the quality of students coming into the school improves. This year the school has continued to attract bright children from Katumba Parents’ Humanist Primary School who gained grades 1 in their Primary Leaving Examinations.
Onward and upward! The Humanist schools are giving hope of a better life to local children from very poor homes. They are very grateful to UHST supporters for helping them along the path of improvement.
Category: News