This paper examines the initial e?ects of the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in January 1997 on the quantity and quality of education obtained by children in Uganda. Using regression discontinuity and di?erence-in-di?erence estimation techniques, the e?ects of school fee elimination on these margins are identi?ed. The di?erential e?ects of the introduction of UPE across socioeconomic groups are examined. The results suggest that UPE increases the probability of a child entering school before age 8 by about 9%. However, the introduction of UPE caused a 10% fall in the probability that a publicly-schooled child of a given age and socioeconomic characteristics was able to complete a simple reading test contained in the 2001 Demographic and Health Survey Education Supplement. The elimination of school fees is found to have reduced dropout rates for boys but not for girls