By Jackline Nabirye,
Officer Communications & Brand Management, ICPAU
The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) has released the results of the August 2026 Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA-U) examinations diet, with 130 students qualifying as professional accountants. The CPA(U) examinations results were released on 14 September 2026 at Protea Hotel by Marriott Kampala Skyz, Naguru.
ICPAU Secretary/CEO, CPA Derick Nkajja, urged students to embrace integrity, effective communication, respect, empathy and accountability as they progress through their accountancy careers. He encouraged students to take responsibility for their work, acknowledge mistakes, learn from them and continuously acquire new skills to remain adaptable in an evolving profession.
“Technical knowledge is important, but the journey requires personal commitment and personal learning,” CPA Nkajja emphasised, urging students to be practical and intentional about developing their careers.
The call comes as 2,281 of the 6,711 examination scripts presented in the August 2026 diet were recorded as passes, giving an overall pass rate of 34.0 per cent. A total of 4,675 candidates sat for the examinations, a 10.03 per cent increase from 4,249 candidates in August 2025.
While the overall pass rate declined from 36.4 per cent in August 2025, the results registered significant improvement at Levels I and IV, whose pass rates increased by 8.3 and 18.6 percentage points respectively.
The Chairperson of the Public Accountants Examinations Board (PAEB), CPA Nancy Amuge Owino, attributed some of the continued performance challenges to inadequate preparation, weaknesses in applying technical knowledge, and flawed interpretation of question requirements. She called on students to make greater use of the support provided by ICPAU, including free virtual student engagement sessions and examination briefing sessions.
PAEB has also stepped-up engagement with tuition providers. In August, 70 tuition providers participated in a specialised workshop on teaching audit-related papers, following continued performance challenges in the area.
The results further show progress in completion of the qualification, with 130 students completing the CPA (U) course, up from 97 in August 2025. The cumulative number of students who have completed the CPA course now stands at 5,806.
Samali Favour Nawankambo emerged as the overall top student and best-performing female student in Paper 18 – Integration of Knowledge, while Phionah Nalwanga and Mary Nakawooya emerged second and third respectively.
ICPAU President, CPA David Timothy Ediomu, congratulated the successful candidates and encouraged those who completed the qualification to take the next step into professional membership. For candidates who did not achieve the results they hoped for, CPA Ediomu urged them to remain focused and use the experience as an opportunity to improve ahead of the December 2026 examinations.
Students were further challenged to look beyond passing examinations and deliberately build the professionalism, ethics and practical competence required to succeed in the accountancy profession.
As the Institute continues to support candidates beyond the examination room, the message from the August results is clear: success in accountancy is not only about passing examinations, but about developing the competence, integrity and professional conduct needed to earn and sustain public trust.
The next examinations diet is from 7 – 11 December 2026. Registration is open via the student application portal, for new students, and via the student accounts for continuing students.
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