Education
LDC Reinstates Pre-Entry Exams for Bar Course in 2026 Academic Year
The Law Development Centre (LDC) has announced the reinstatement of pre-entry examinations for law graduates intending to enrol for the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice in the 2026 academic year. This decision, revealed in a press release issued on Monday, August 4, marks a significant policy shift after a six-year suspension of the exams.
“A pre-entry examination will be conducted for the academic year 2026 intake, primarily to manage the numbers without sacrificing quality,” the statement read. LDC assured concerned graduates that detailed guidelines for the examinations will be published by September 1, 2025.
The National Legal Examinations Centre (NLEC), which is expected to be operational soon, will coordinate and administer the exams. The unified examination will serve as the gateway for awarding the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice—a prerequisite for admission to the roll of advocates and legal representation in Ugandan courts.
LDC clarified that the delayed admissions for the 2025 academic year were due to capacity constraints. Having already admitted two cohorts, the institution cited limitations in human resources and infrastructure as key factors in postponing further intake.
The return of the pre-entry exam comes amid ongoing reforms in legal education. The Cabinet has approved the process to repeal the LDC Act, paving the way for a proposed Bill that will establish the National Legal Examinations Centre. This will allow for the decentralisation of the bar course, enabling accredited universities and institutions to offer the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
Pre-entry exams were first introduced to control intake and uphold standards at LDC but were suspended in 2019 to allow time for legal reforms. The suspension, however, sparked a flood of applicants, raising concerns over quality assurance.
Before the suspension, West Budama South MP Jacob Oboth-Oboth—now Minister of Security—had championed a Private Member’s Bill aimed at scrapping the pre-entry requirement. He argued that the exams had become overly commercial and no longer served their academic purpose, citing Ghana and Kenya as examples of jurisdictions that had abandoned similar entry barriers.
However, retired Justice Remmy Kasule, a former Chairperson of the Law Council, warned Parliament in 2019 that removing the exams would significantly erode the professional standards of Uganda’s legal sector.
With the reinstatement of the pre-entry exams and the upcoming legal reforms, the landscape of legal training in Uganda is set for a major transformation—balancing access, quality, and decentralisation.
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