The 2026 school calendar shall contain the historic transition of learners from Grade 9 to Grade 10. This transition shall involve the inaugural class under the contentious Curriculum Based Education (CBE system).
The 2026 school calendar shall kick off with the first term which will come after a lengthy two-month break. According to the Ministry of Education, the first term 2026 school opening shall be on January 5, 2026. Grade 10 learners are however expected to report to school for their inaugural Senior School class from January 12.
Once learners start of the first term 2026, they will be in classrooms until February 25th when they will break for their mid-term. The mid-term shall last for five days, with learners resuming school on March 1.
The learners will then remain in class until April 7 when they will break for three weeks, then resume school from April 24, 2026. In total, the first term 2026 shall comprise of 13 weeks of learning.
In this year’s calendar, the second term shall be the longest learning period, lasting for a total of 14 weeks. This term will run from April 27 to July 31. Half term shall run for five days from June 24 to June 28.
The third term shall be the shortest learning period and will last for about 9 weeks to pave the way for national examinations. This term shall run from August 24 to October 23.
The longest break from school shall be for the December holidays and shall last for about 10 weeks, starting from October 26 to January 1, 2027.
National examinations that shall be conducted this year will include the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education which shall take place for three weeks between November 2 and November 20. The Kenya Junior School Education Assessment and the Kenya Pre-Vocational Level Education Assessment shall take place from October 26 to November 5.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment shall take place for four days starting from October 26 to October 29. The Kenya Intermediate Level Education Assessment shall take place from October 26 to October 30.
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