Over half of KCSE candidates score D+ and below for ninth straight year
Thon Aguek who emerged the best candidate in KCSE 2024 at Paul Boit high school in Eldoret after scoring an A of 83 points is being carried shoulder high by students from the school on January 9, 2025.Â
The proportion of candidates who scored Grade D+ and below in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination remained over 50 percent for the ninth straight year, shining a spotlight on the quality of learning under the 8-4-4 education system.
Results of the 2024 KCSE examination released on Thursday by Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba indicate that 482,039 or 50.1 percent of the 962,512 candidates who sat the exam last year attained a D+ or below.
This was, however, a marginal improvement from the 55.2 percent of candidates who scored the below-average grade in the preceding exam administered in 2023.
The trend started showing in 2016 following reforms initiated by then Education CS Fred Matiang’i against the backdrop of what was widely viewed as a massively rigged test in the 2015 exam year.
The total number of candidates sitting the test last year jumped 7.01 percent compared from 899,453 the previous year, with the number of female candidates surpassing that of their male counterparts for the first time.
The number of those who have been locked out of university admission on account of scoring grades below C+ has risen by 17,801 to 716,121 up from the 698,320 who missed out during the 2023 exam.
The results of 2,829 candidates have been withheld on suspected irregularities pending investigations that are set to conclude within 30 days while 840 students had their results cancelled on malpractices.
A total of 17 subjects marked an improved performance compared to the results posted in the preceding exam, among them Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, General Science, History & Government, and Geography.
Others were Islamic Religious Education (IRE), Agriculture, Woodwork, Metalwork, Drawing & Design, Aviation Technology, Computer Studies, Kenya Sign Language as well as Business Studies.
“As it was in the 2023 KCSE examination, the 2024 KCSE examination results have been graded using the reviewed grading system in which the overall grade at KCSE examination has considered Mathematics, the best-performed language among three (English, Swahili and Kenyan Sign Language) and the best performed five subjects,” said Mr Ogamba.
On the flip side, the number of candidates who achieved direct university entry grades hit a record high at 246,391, growing 22.5 percent from the 201,133 who had qualified in the previous test when the number crossed the 200,000 mark for the first time.
The increment by over 45,000 candidates sets the stage for the scramble for limited slots in tertiary-level learning institutions and is also expected to exert pressure on the State with respect to higher education funding.
The number of candidates who scored the grade A increased 39 percent, or an addition of 477, to stand at 1,693 up from the 1,216 in the 2023 exam -- the highest since 2015.
“Female candidates recorded better mean score performance than male candidates in seven subjects that included English, Kiswahili, Kenya Sign Language, French, Home Science, Christian Religious Education (CRE) and Art & Design,” noted Mr Ogamba.
“Male candidates, on the other hand, recorded a better mean score performance than female candidates in 23 subjects including Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, General Science, History & Government, Geography, IRE, Wood Work, Metal Work, Building & Construction.”
