Rwanda’s Ministry of Education has withheld the results of 7,188 Primary Leaving Examination candidates suspected of cheating in the 2025/26 national examinations as investigations continue.
The issue emerged after the results of the Primary Leaving and Ordinary Level national examinations were released on August 20, 2026, with some parents discovering that their children’s results were unavailable on the designated online platform.
Parents from different districts expressed concern that the delay could make it difficult for them to prepare their children for the next level of education.
Dr Bernard Bahati, Director General of the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), said suspected malpractice is detected both during examinations and while candidates’ scripts are being marked.
Some candidates are found carrying prohibited materials, including mobile phones and papers containing answers.
“We seize that evidence and then prepare a report,” Bahati said.
He explained that candidates implicated in such incidents retain the right to appeal before a final decision is taken.
Other cases are identified during marking when examiners notice unusual similarities in the answers provided by candidates who sat in the same examination room.
“For example, you may find that all the students in one room gave the same answer and all got it wrong,” Bahati said.
He noted that candidates placed in the same examination room normally come from different schools and are not taught by the same teacher. Identical answers, particularly identical incorrect ones, can therefore prompt a deeper investigation.
Education Minister Joseph Nsengimana said investigators had identified suspected cheating in individual rooms at some examination centres, but this did not mean that every candidate at those centres was implicated.
Each examination room accommodates 25 candidates. Nsengimana said several rooms had produced suspicious answer patterns, accounting for the large number of students under investigation.
He said the investigation had taken longer because all the candidates who sat in an affected room had to be examined individually to establish what had happened and prevent innocent students from being penalised.
Education authorities reported that the 2025/26 examinations produced more suspected cheating cases than in previous years.
“We are waiting for the investigation to end so that we avoid speculation,” Nsengimana said.
Candidates found to have cheated or received assistance to cheat could be awarded zero in the affected paper. Depending on the seriousness of the violation, some could lose all their examination results.
The Ministry expects the outstanding results and decisions arising from the investigation to be released by Monday, August 31.
Nsengimana acknowledged that the delay had created difficulties for families but said the investigation could not be rushed. Releasing the results by Monday would give affected students approximately seven days to prepare before the new school term begins.
He said the process was intended to reach a fair decision in every case without punishing candidates who had not committed any wrongdoing.
The Ministry of Education also warned that a teacher who helps a student cheat in a national examination commits an offence punishable by law.
More than 276,000 candidates sat the Primary Leaving Examinations in the 2025/26 academic year. The overall pass rate increased to 88.21 per cent, compared with 75.6 per cent in 2024/25.
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