Tight cut-offs as 92,000 qualify for university

Students who seek to apply for competitive programmes such as medicine, engineering, and law at top universities should brace themselves for tight cut-off points.

This is because many students qualified for such programmes, by attaining three principal passes. Although 92,273 students qualified for university, 54,338 of them (58.9%) had all the three principal passes while just 37,935 others had just two principal passes.

During admission, candidates with three principal passes will have an advantage during admissions for degree programmes compared to those with just two principal passes.

Despite an increase of 11,457 students who qualified for university this year, universities such as Makerere (which admit the largest number), will maintain the admission numbers this year, like they did in 2024.

This implies that there will be competition for slots to join Makerere, which definitely affects admission at other universities. This, too, will reduce the chances of the 37,935 students, who attained two principal passes, of joining the top universities.

Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Makerere University vice chancellor, said: “We will admit the same number of undergraduate students this year like we did in 2024.”

Adding that: “As part of the university’s strategic plan of becoming a research-led university, we target to have more students for graduate training.”

Charles Ssentongo, the deputy academic registrar in charge of undergraduate admissions at Makerere University, said the university alone admits 10,000 students for undergraduate programmes.

Upcountry admissions

A section of public regional universities interviewed revealed that they will double their admissions so as to accommodate the number of students who qualified for university education. By increasing admission, the upcountry universities want to meet their capacity.

Prof. George Ladaah Openjuru, the Gulu University vice-chancellor, noted that for a long time, many regional public universities have not been admitting the desired numbers because students prefer to study in Kampala.

“All regional public universities are operating at half their capacity. For instance, at Gulu University, we have capacity to accommodate 16,000 students, but we only have about 7,000, which is small,” he said.

Openjuru asked students to make use of the regional universities other than concentrating in Kampala.

Prof. Jasper Ogwal-Okeng, the vice-chancellor of Lira University, also noted that they are operating below their capacity.

“The increase in the number of students who qualify for university education is good news for upcountry universities such as ours. This implies that we can now double the numbers to equitably utilise the facilities set up by the Government,” he said.

Prof. Paul Waako, the Busitema University vicechancellor, told New Vision that they will admit 1,000 more students this year, compared to those they admitted last year.

“Last year, we admitted about 5,000 students. This year, we might increase this to 6,000 students. Our current enrolment is 8,000, but we have a capacity of 10,000 students.

We have new programmes such as mining engineering, textile engineering as well as agro-engineering where we hope to admit more students,” Waako explained.

Private varsities

Relatedly, a section of private universities noted that they will also increase the number of admissions this year.

Jimmy Siyasa, the Uganda Christian University (UCU) spokesperson, noted that they are set to call for admissions for the May entry, adding that more students will be admitted this year.

Without divulging the numbers, Siyasa said that UCU has expanded with new facilities at both its main campus in Mukono and the one in Kampala in ordrer to admit more students than they have been doing.

NCHE on admissions

However, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), has guided that any institution that seeks to admit more students than the approved number, must secure permission from the council.

Prof. Mary Okwakol, the NCHE executive director, explained that the council is open to receiving applications from any university that wants to double the numbers of students admitted.

“As the sector regulator, we approve the programmes offered at each university, plus the maximum number they can offer for each. Therefore, if there is any institution that wants to admit beyond these numbers, they should apply,” Okwakol said.

She added: “Once we receive the application, we will submit them to the governing council and later send teams to the respective universities to establish whether they have capacity to take on more students. The findings will then inform the council’s decision.”

Govt scholarships

Annually, 4,000 slots are provided under the government sponsorship scheme for senior six leavers to public universities and tertiary institutions. At least 75% of these are awarded to students who exhibit academic prowess under the national merit scheme.

In addition, the other 25% slots are awarded to academically strong students under the district quota system, 64 slots for students with special needs and 40 slots for the talented. Last year, a total of 2,350 students were selected by the Public Universities Joint Admission Board (PUJAB) committee under the national merit admission scheme to public universities.

Of these, 1,388 students were admitted to Makerere University, while the 962 others were distributed to other public universities of; Kyambogo, Lira, Mbarara, Gulu, Busitema, Muni, Kabale, Soroti and Mountains of the Moon.

Where students can go

Currently, Uganda is home to a total of 58 public and private universities, spread across the country. Of these, 48 are privately managed while 10 are public universities.

These are Makerere University and its constituent college, Makerere University Business School as well as Kyambogo University in Kampala.

There is Mountains of the Moon University in Rwenzori sub-region, Soroti University in Teso sub-region and Busitema University in Bukedi sub-region. In addition to these are Gulu University that operates in Acholi sub-region, Lira University in Lango sub-region, Muni University in West Nile, Kabale University in Kigezi and Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Ankole.

During the release of the 2024 A’level results on Friday, March 14, the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, revealed that the establishment of a public university for Busoga sub-region is in its advanced stages. For Bunyoro, she said tha land where the campus will be located has been identified.

The First Lady added that the Government has allocated sh15b to commence the construction of Bunyoro University this financial year.

However, Mrs Museveni advised students, who might have qualified for university, to take up opportunities at the 15 public technical colleges spread across the country.

“We are cognisant of the fact that some learners may not be interested in pursuing the academic career path of higher education.

The Government has 15 technical colleges that can absorb persons interested in the TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) career path after Senior Six,” the education and sports minister said.