KCSE Results Verification in Progress, Release Date Confirmed

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has announced that the results of the 2023 Form Four exam will be released in the second week of January.

As the 903,260 students who sat for the final secondary school exam in November 2023 anxiously anticipate their results, another 1.4 million students from Standard Eight are preparing to enter secondary school. According to the 2024 education schedule, these Form One students will begin their academic journey on January 15, 2024. Additionally, the new grading system implemented in August will offer advantages to the KCSE candidates. It reduces the number of compulsory subjects and emphasizes the ones in which candidates excel.

The introduction of a fresh approach to student assessment will involve evaluating their performance in two compulsory subjects: Mathematics and any language, which may encompass English, Kiswahili, or Kenya Sign Language. This represents a shift away from the existing grading system that encompasses seven subjects: English, Mathematics, Kiswahili, two sciences, and two additional subjects. The adoption of this innovative grading system is expected to result in enhanced overall scores for students, consequently boosting their prospects for pursuing higher education.

The previous requirement of five mandatory subjects has been abolished by the Examination Council (Knec) to increase the number of candidates qualifying for higher education. The CS had expressed this worry in response to last year's results where over 354,000 candidates, accounting for nearly 40 per cent, achieved Grades D, D-, and E. The reforms team discovered that the current system unfairly disadvantages certain learners whose strongest subjects are not considered if they fall outside of the designated cluster.

The CS acknowledged that learners possess different talents, excelling in either Social Sciences, Arts and Sports, or Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Thanks to the Competency-Based Curriculum, learners now have three pathways to choose from in Senior School: Social Sciences, Arts and Sports, or Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The CS has reassured the public that the KCSE results will maintain their credibility.