Ministry of Education released results showing that 94.33% of candidates passed.
KIGALI – Government has drawn a firm line on examination malpractice, with 1,097 students from 27 districts caught cheating in the 2025/2026 Senior Six examinations told they will not be given another chance to sit the exams.
The decision was announced on September 11 as the Ministry of Education released results showing that 94.33% of candidates passed the national secondary school leaving examinations, a significant improvement from the 89.1% recorded last year.
Education Minister Joseph Nsengimana said the students who cheated would be held accountable, drawing a distinction between them and primary school pupils who were given an opportunity to retake their examinations after investigations found that adults, including teachers, had been involved in malpractice.
“We therefore do not want it to become a culture where someone cheats or helps another person cheat, thinking that they will be given another chance to sit another examination. That is not how it will be,” Nsengimana said.
He said students completing secondary school are old enough to understand the consequences of cheating. “In reality, they are not young children; they are people who know what they are doing,” the minister said.
The firm position marks a different approach from the one taken after widespread malpractice was discovered in the 2025/2026 Primary Leaving Examinations.
More than 7,000 primary school pupils were given a second opportunity after investigations established that cheating in 254 examination rooms had involved adults.
A Stronger Result, Despite the Cheating
The crackdown on cheating came alongside a marked improvement in overall examination performance.
NESA Director General Dr Bernard Bahati said 108,732 candidates registered for the secondary school leaving examinations, with girls accounting for 55.5% and boys 44.95%.
Of those registered, about 108,405 candidates sat the examinations, with more than 102,000 passing. The overall pass rate stood at 94.33%, meaning candidates who scored at least 50% made up nearly 19 out of every 20 students who sat the examinations.
The result represents a substantial improvement from last year’s performance, when 89.1% of 106,078 candidates who sat the examinations passed.
The improvement comes as the Ministry says it has strengthened programs intended to help students overcome learning gaps, including support for learners struggling with particular subjects.
Nsengimana said the government was encouraged by the progress, although differences in performance between boys and girls remained.
The results showed that boys performed better than girls, despite girls making up the majority of registered candidates. Boys recorded a pass rate of 95.9%, compared with 93% among girls.
The figures give the gender dimension of this year’s results particular significance: girls represented more than half of those registered, but boys achieved a higher success rate.
NESA said the overall improvement reflected efforts made to support students through different programmes during the academic year.
New Measures Against Cheating
Nsengimana said new measures have been introduced under which two examination invigilators from different locations will be assigned to each examination room as a way of tightening examination supervision.
The arrangement is intended to reduce the possibility of collusion and strengthen accountability during national examinations.
The government is also relying on academic support programs to help students with subjects they do not understand as one of the factors that can push students towards malpractice.
Nsengimana urged parents and teachers to identify students who need additional academic support and ensure that they participate in programs designed to help them improve.
The Students Who Rose to the Top
This year’s examinations also produced a group of high-performing students.
Manzi Nshuti Kabanda Brave, who studied Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology at Petit Séminaire Saint Aloys in Rusizi district, emerged as the top-performing student, scoring 98.40%.
He was followed by Umwali Deborah, who studied History, Literature and Geography at Cornerstone Leadership Academy in Rwamagana, with 97.52%.
The top-performing students, however, did not receive their awards immediately at the results announcement.
Nsengimana said the Ministry of Education will organize a separate event where the best-performing students will be received together with their parents and school leaders.
The students will also receive their awards at that event, including educational materials traditionally given to outstanding performers.
The 2025/2026 results present a mixed but significant picture with an overall performance improving considerably. Boys maintained a higher pass rate than girls,
The Ministry’s position is that a national examination is not simply a test of academic knowledge, but also a test of integrity, and cheating cannot become a route to another opportunity.
