RUSAGARA MUVUNANKIKO Valens
Rwanda’s primary and lower secondary learners delivered a markedly stronger performance in the 2025/2026 national examinations, according to results released Thursday, August 20, 2026, by the Rwanda National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA).
The improvement was most striking at the primary level. Candidates who sat the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) posted a pass rate of 88.21%, a jump of nearly 13 percentage points from the 75.6% recorded the previous academic year. Learners who completed Lower Secondary, or O-Level, examinations also improved, with 85.7% of candidates passing a substantial rise from the 64.35% pass rate posted in 2024/2025.
The scale of this year’s exams underscores the growing size of Rwanda’s student population. A total of 277,579 candidates sat the PLE, held in early July 2026, with girls making up the majority at 55.65% against 44.35% boys. Of these, 88.21% passed 87.1% of girls and 89.59% of boys, meaning boys edged out girls slightly in overall pass rate despite girls forming the larger share of candidates.
At the lower secondary level, 149,015 students sat exams in mid-July, of whom 57.22% were girls. Here, the gender gap in performance was more pronounced: 89.8% of girls passed compared with 82.63% of boys, and 127,702 candidates passed overall.
NESA’s breakdown of subject performance points to where the primary-level gains were concentrated. Mathematics saw the largest swing, with the pass rate nearly doubling from 27.6% to 50%. Science climbed from 71% to 81%, while General Knowledge and Religious Education rose from 75% to 95%.
Not every subject improved, however. English slipped from 72% to 68%, and Kinyarwanda dipped marginally from 98.4% to 98.3%, suggesting that while numeracy and science instruction may have strengthened, language performance requires closer attention going forward.
For the second consecutive year, Kirehe District topped the national rankings at both levels of education a feat it also achieved in the 2024/2025 cycle, when it posted over 97% in PLE and above 91% in O-Level. This year, Kirehe pushed even further, recording a near-perfect 99.88% pass rate in the PLE and 99.98% in the O-Level exams.
Ngoma (95.27%) and Musanze (93.90%) rounded out the top three districts at primary level, while Musanze (96.63%) followed Kirehe at the O-Level. At the other end of the scale, Nyamagabe (81.45%) and Gisagara (81.72%) recorded the lowest PLE pass rates, while Nyarugenge (71.41%) and Gasabo (74.63%) trailed in the O-Level results a notable shift, since urban Kigali districts such as Nyarugenge and Gasabo underperformed relative to more rural districts like Kirehe.
This year’s results build on a pattern of steady improvement Rwanda’s Ministry of Education has been tracking closely. Officials have previously credited measures such as the introduction of a standardized 50% pass mark and greater transparency in how results are published including showing both raw scores and percentages as part of a broader push tied to the country’s Vision 2050 education goals.
With primary and lower secondary pass rates now climbing simultaneously, attention is likely to turn next to whether the gains carry through to Advanced Level and TVET outcomes in the terms ahead.
Ivan Damascene Iradukunda
