More than 371,000 learners passed Rwanda’s Primary Leaving and Ordinary Level national examinations this year, as a larger examination cohort recorded stronger results than in the previous school year.
The National Examination and School Inspection Authority released the 2025/26 results Thursday, showing that 243,958 learners passed the Primary Leaving Examination and 127,702 passed at Ordinary Level.
The combined number of successful candidates was 371,660, representing an overall success rate of 87.3%, according to NESA. The PLE pass rate reached 88.21%, up from 75.6% last year, while the O-Level rate rose to 85.7% from 64.35%.
The improvement came as the number of learners reaching examination classes increased. Education officials linked part of the rise to students whose schooling was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and who have since progressed through the education system. KT Press reported that the PLE cohort grew by more than 50,000 candidates compared with the previous year.
State Minister for Education Claudette Irere said the rise in both the number of candidates and their performance was encouraging, while noting that the larger number of successful learners would affect the placement of students in secondary schools.
NESA Director General Dr. Bernard Bahati said the improvement was also visible in the distribution of marks, with fewer learners recording scores in the lower ranges.
At primary level, the number of learners scoring between 30% and 40% fell from more than 10,000 last year to about 4,000 this year. Those scoring between 40% and 50% declined from more than 41,000 to about 27,000.
Mathematics was among the subjects that recorded a major improvement at primary level, with its pass rate rising from 27.6% last year to 50% this year. Science increased from 71% to 81%, while General Knowledge and Religious Education rose from 75% to 95%.
The results also showed a gender gap in performance. Boys recorded an 89.59% pass rate in the PLE, compared with 87.1% for girls. At O-Level, boys passed at 89.8%, while girls recorded an 82.62% pass rate.
Meanwhile, 243 suspected examination malpractice cases were recorded during the two examinations. Irere said the cases were still being investigated and that results for students suspected of cheating would be withheld until the inquiries are completed.
The results were released on Aug. 20, with successful candidates now moving into the next stage of their education.
