Details of KNEC's new KCSE grading system

Cabinet Secretary for Education, Ezekiel Machogu, announced the new Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) grading system during the launch of the 2023 national exams season at the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) headquarters at New Mitihani House in Nairobi.

The new grading system, as outlined by CS Ezekiel Machogu, will place greater emphasis on a combination of two compulsory subjects and the top five best performances of candidates.

This marks a pivotal shift from the previous system, which relied on the performance across subject clusters.

Education CS Ezekiel Machogu attending the launch of the 2023 National Examinations Season at the New Mitihani House on September 25, 2023 Education CS Ezekiel Machogu attending the launch of the 2023 National Examinations Season at the New Mitihani House Pulse Live Kenya

The past grading system for KCSE considered English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, 2 Science subjects and 2 other subjects.

According to the presidential working party on education reforms, this system disadvantaged some learners whose best-performing subjects were not considered if not within the cluster.

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In the new system, the Kenya National Examinations Council will compute candidates’ KCSE mean score based on Mathematics, English or Kiswahili, and five other best-performed subjects.

The Ministry has promised that they will provide guidance and clarity to both students and teachers well ahead of the next examination cycle.