KCSE candidates who qualify for university entry up 19pc
Wesley Nyamache from Kanga High School, who attained an A of 84 points in the 2022 KCSE exams, is celebrated by family members at their home Gesabakwa village in Kisii on January 20,2022. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA | NMG
The number of candidates who met the minimum university entry qualification in the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination rose by 19 percent compared to the previous year, setting the stage for a scramble for top university courses.
Data from the Ministry of Education shows an additional 27,569 candidates scored C+ and above, bringing the total to 173,345, compared to 145,776 recorded the previous year.
The performance rise could trigger a scramble for top courses like medicine, dental surgery, civil engineering, information technology and architecture that offer hopes jobs in the saturated market.
Liberal arts and environmental courses are less preferred because candidates feel they are offered fewer openings in the job market.
“The number of candidates with minimum university entry qualification of Grade C+ and above has risen to 173,345 in the year 2022 KCSE examination compared to 145,776 in 2021,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu when he released the results on Friday.
The number of candidates who scored grade A- and above stood at 7,553 compared to 7,313 recorded in the 2021 KCSE and the 6,423 registered the previous year.
The number of candidates obtaining a mean grade of E in 2022 declined significantly to 30,822 despite the increase in candidates, compared with 46,151 in 2021.
Of the 876,416 candidates that sat the 2022 KCSE examination, 443,644 were male, while 437,772 were female, representing 50.3 percent and 49.67 percent, respectively.
Over the past five years, nearly all students who scored C+ and above were admitted to the regular university programmes, reducing the pool of learners available for private universities and self-sponsored degree programmes in public universities.
