In a groundbreaking move, KNEC will administer the first-ever summative national assessment at Junior School for Grade 9 learners as part of the 2025 examination cycle. KJSEA is expected to assess around 1,145,585 learners who transitioned from Grade 8 to Grade 9 in 2024. Furthermore, the Kenya Pre-Vocational Level Education Assessment (KPVLEA) will be introduced for approximately 5,306 learners following the Stage-Based pathway
The Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) officially announced last week the commencement of candidate registration for the 2025 Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), which is set to begin on January 27, 2025. This assessment targets Grade 6 pupils who are set to transition into Junior Secondary Schools in 2026.
In addition to KPSEA, KNEC will also begin the registration of candidates for the inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) on February 17, 2025. KNEC’s Chief Executive Officer, David Njengere, has urged all examination centre managers to ensure the accurate registration of candidates. He highlighted that improper registration of candidate details remains a significant challenge asking parents to collaborate with schools to verify details, especially the spelling of names and the subjects for which candidates are being registered.
“This is one area in which we usually face a significant challenge – capturing candidates’ registration details,” Njengere emphasized. “Parents should ensure that all candidates are registered properly, with accurate details. He also warned that any erroneous registrations would not be rectified, and candidates with incorrect registrations would have to defer their exams to 2026.
In a groundbreaking move, KNEC will administer the first-ever summative national assessment at Junior School for Grade 9 learners as part of the 2025 examination cycle. KJSEA is expected to assess around 1,145,585 learners who transitioned from Grade 8 to Grade 9 in 2024. Furthermore, the Kenya Pre-Vocational Level Education Assessment (KPVLEA) will be introduced for approximately 5,306 learners following the Stage-Based pathway.
KNEC conducted a pilot exercise for both KJSEA and KPVLEA in July 2024, sampling 235 schools across all 47 counties. The insights from this pilot were used to develop the assessment blueprint. Njengere also mentioned that KNEC has made sample papers for KJSEA available on the KNEC Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) portal to aid in preparation.
A significant change this year is the requirement for parents and guardians to provide their national ID numbers during registration for KPSEA, KJSEA, and Grade 12 assessments. This will help KNEC track learners under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Looking ahead, Njengere also encouraged those who wish to sit for the KCSE exams to take advantage of the remaining years before the full transition to the Competency-Based Curriculum. The last KCSE under the 8-4-4 system will be held in 2027.
Njengere made these statements during the release of the 2024 KCSE results, noting that 965,512 candidates registered for the exams, marking a 7.19% increase from the previous year—the highest since 2020. He acknowledged the challenges faced by the 2024 cohort, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the floods that occurred in 2024.
The 2024 exams were conducted between October 22 and November 22, 2024, with theory papers and practical tests being administered across 10,754 examination centres nationwide. To ensure the secure handling of exam papers, KNEC implemented a double-collection process for the first and second-session papers, successfully preventing early exposure of the second-session papers, a problem faced in previous years.
Njengere confirmed that this year’s exams were conducted with the help of 103,125 professionals, including officers from the Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission, security personnel, and centre managers.
