A total of 277,452 pupils have started Rwanda’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) for the 2025/26 academic year, as the country’s national examination season gets underway.
The examinations, organised by the National Examinations and School Inspection Authority (NESA) under the Ministry of Education, began on Tuesday and will run until July 9 across 1,118 examination centres countrywide.
The official launch was held at GS Karembure in Kicukiro District, Kigali, in an event attended by Minister of Education Joseph Nsengimana, State Minister in charge of Education Claudette Irere, and NESA Director General Dr Bernard Bahati.
The number of candidates sitting the primary leaving exams has increased compared with previous years, reflecting continued growth in enrolment. In the 2024/25 academic year, 220,927 pupils sat for the exams, compared with 202,021 candidates in 2023/24.
The PLE exams will be followed by national examinations for Ordinary Level (O’Level) and Advanced Level (S6) students, which are scheduled to begin on July 15, 2026.
