Grade nine learners who sat for the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) examinations are set to transition to Grade 10 in 2026, marking the start of the senior school phase under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
According to the Ministry of Education, placement of learners in senior schools will be based on pathways and accommodation.
The three pathways include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); Arts and Sports Science; and Social Sciences, while accommodation is based on gender, day, and hybrid senior schools, and special needs.
Learners will select 12 schools for their chosen pathways in three different categories.
Nine of the selected schools should be boarding schools, three from the learners’ home county and six should be outside the learner’s home county. Additionally, three of the selected schools should be day schools in the learner’s home sub-county.
Learners will also be placed to senior schools depending on their choice of pathways, tracks, subject combinations, and schools.
Additionally, the learner’s academic performance in Grade 9 will also determine the senior school they will be placed to.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) will also consider the learner’s aptitude, interest, and talent identification during placement.
Other factors that the ministry will observe when placing Grade 9 learners to senior schools are regional balance, and school’s capability in terms of resources and space.
Basic Education Principal Secretary (PS) Prof Julius Bitok had earlier said that placement of the learners to senior schools will begin one week after the release of the results.
“We are putting systems and measures and everything required for smooth transition of the 1.1 million learners who sat for KJSEA. We have issued the guidelines from the beginning to the end. From where I sit, we have no confusion,” he said.
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