Over 18,000 fail to secure a pass in one subject as Zambia confirms 85.63% success in 2026 GCE exams

A total of 112,640 candidates passed Zambia’s 2026 General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations, representing 85.63% of those who sat the exams, Education Minister Gilbert Siame said on Thursday.

Siame said 140,938 candidates had entered for the examinations, comprising 43,488 males and 97,450 females.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka, Siame said the Ministry of Education had worked with the Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) to process the results.

“We commend teachers, examiners, security personnel and ECZ officers for safeguarding the credibility and integrity of the national examinations,” he said.

Of the candidates who entered, 130,866 sat the examinations, representing 92.85%, up from 91.43% in 2025.

“More than three quarters of candidates who entered and sat were female, and I make a clarion call to males to take advantage of the examination to improve their grades,” Siame said.

Of those who sat the examinations, 39,045 were male and 91,821 were female, with females accounting for 70.16% of candidates.

“National performance is largely comparable to 2025, when 85.70 percent of candidates passed,” Siame said.

A total of 10,072 candidates were absent, representing an absenteeism rate of 7.15%, down from 8.57% in 2025.

“There were no reported cases of leakage of examination question papers during the conduct of the 2026 GCE examination,” he said.

However, 18,226 candidates failed after not passing any of the subjects they sat, representing 13.93%, compared with 14.04% in 2025.

“Results will be accessible through the SMS result notification system immediately after the briefing, while statements will be available online on the ECZ portal after one week,” Siame said.

Of the 14,264 candidates who sat for five or more subjects, 1,548 obtained GCE certificates while 12,103 obtained statements.

French recorded the highest mean score at 87.61%, while mathematics recorded the lowest at 21.19%.

The ministry recorded 389 individual cases and 15 whole-centre cases of suspected examination malpractice.

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