By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
Kenya, 9 January 2026 - Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has congratulated the nearly one million candidates who sat the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, urging them to view their results not as an end point, but as the start of new opportunities in learning and work.
In a statement released on Friday following the announcement of the results, Kindiki praised the resilience and effort shown by the 993,226 candidates who took the national examination.
“I applaud the 270,715 students who have qualified to join university, and also the rest who will find training and skills development opportunities in tertiary institutions, vocational training institutions and other opportunities,” he said.
Kindiki specifically commended the 270,715 candidates who attained a C+ and above, qualifying them for direct university entry. He also acknowledged the majority who will transition to technical and vocational education, stressing that Kenya’s education system offers multiple routes to success.
“The country offers diverse pathways for training and skills development, and every learner has a chance to build a meaningful future,” he noted.
The Deputy President cautioned against treating examination results as a definitive measure of personal worth or potential. Instead, he encouraged candidates to embrace lifelong learning and adaptability as the country reforms its education framework.
“As Kenya retires the nostalgic KCSE by 2027, the transition to the Competence-Based Education and Training (CBET) system will provide a more adaptive human resource for our country,” Kindiki said.
He described CBET as a critical driver of Kenya’s ambition to become a first-world economy within a generation, adding that while the 8-4-4 system had served the country well, the new framework was better aligned to emerging national and global needs.
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Kindiki said the government had, over the past three years, prioritised continuity and stability to ensure a smooth transition to the new education system.
“This will remain the case until we achieve the full implementation of the transition and thereafter the fine-tuning and perfection thereof,” he stated.
His remarks came as Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba released detailed performance data for the 2025 KCSE examination. Ogamba announced that 1,932 candidates scored grade A, an improvement from 1,693 candidates in 2024.
“Overall performance shows a mixed trend, with 17 subjects recording improved performance, while 11 subjects registered a decline compared to last year,” Ogamba said.
The CS noted that 507,131 candidates attained grade C– and above, while 634,082 achieved a pass grade of D+ and above, qualifying them for various post-secondary education and training pathways. He also highlighted improved performance in public day secondary schools, with about 72,000 candidates from these schools scoring C+ and above.
The KCSE examinations were administered nationwide between 21 October and 14 November 2025, marking one of the final cohorts to sit the exam before the full transition to the new education system.
