Education policy in Uganda has evolved over time from elitism to inclusiveness and is now at the center of the country’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). This paper uses the 1992 and 2005 nationally representative household surveys to assess the impact of the 1997 Universal Primary Education (UPE) and the 2007 Universal Secondary Education (USE) policies. Both policies entail the abolition of school fees for these two levels of education. We find that UPE did reduce school fees paid by families at the primary level of education. The reduction in school fees in turn led to a significant improvement in both access to and equity in primary schooling. However the policy did not increase the likelihood of completing primary schooling nor did it have any spillover effects for secondary education. Simulations from a probability model show that USE is likely to induce a big surge in secondary enrolment similar to the one associated with UPE at the primary level of education. This policy also has the potential of significantly improving the distribution of post primary education and training opportunities. The feasibility of these potential outcomes depends however on investment in space and other complementary inputs at levels commensurate with the expected influx of students.