The system of education in Uganda has a structure of 7 years of primary education, 6 years of secondary education which is divided into 4 years of lower secondary and 2 years of upper secondary school and 3 to 5 years of post-secondary education. The present system has existed since the early 1960s and this can be summarised as below;
Nursery/kindergarten (duration: three years)
This is the pre-school level of education in Uganda. Children usually start at the age of three and complete nursery school by the age of six.
Primary school (duration: seven years)
There are seven primary school years from primary one to primary seven. With normal annual progression this means primary school should last seven years
Secondary school (duration: six years)
Pupils who pass their PLE can progress to secondary school. This has two stages; the first four years, senior one (S1) to senior four (S4), constitute the O-level period. At the end of S4, students sit the second major national exams known as the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) or simply O-level examinations.
Students who pass their O-level examination may progress to A-levels or the Higher School Certificate (HSC). This lasts two years, S5 and S6, after which students sit for the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations, also known simply as A-levels
University and other tertiary institutions
Students who pass their A-levels may choose to progress to university where they can study for degrees or to other tertiary institutions that award diplomas and certificates.