KNEC National Examinations 2025: A Historic Season of Assessments
The 2025 national examination season, administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), is underway, marking a historic and complex logistical undertaking. This year features the traditional Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) alongside the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and the highly anticipated inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) for the first cohort under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
The government, through the Ministry of Education, has assured the nation that all logistical and security arrangements are complete to ensure the integrity of the process.
Note: The KCSE written papers, covering subjects like English, Mathematics, and Sciences, commence in the first week of November.
Candidate Statistics: Kenya’s Largest Examination Cohort
The 2025 national assessments will involve a record over 3.4 million candidates—the largest number in the nation’s history. This significant figure reflects the concurrency of the exit assessments for the 8-4-4 system (KCSE) and the transition assessments under the CBC (KPSEA and KJSEA).
The total registered candidates are broken down as follows:
Total Candidates: 3,424,836
Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA – Grade 6): 1,298,089 candidates
Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA – Grade 9): 1,130,669 candidates (Inaugural Cohort)
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE – Form 4): 996,078 candidates
Enhanced Security and Logistics
KNEC has taken several measures to reinforce the credibility and security of the examination materials, distribution, and administration:
Digital Smart Padlocks: The Council is piloting the use of digital smart padlocks on 250 of the 642 exam storage containers . These locks are designed to enhance the security of the materials and track access in real time.
Expanded Storage Network: KNEC increased the number of examination storage containers to 642 across the sub-counties to facilitate easier and safer daily distribution.
Personnel Deployment: The process requires massive human resources, including over 10,000 centre managers for KCSE, and nearly 30,000 centre managers and supervisors for the KPSEA and KJSEA assessments combined, supported by thousands of security personnel.
CBC Assessment Format: For the KJSEA candidates, a new system is being used where learners respond directly in personalised question papers bearing their names and index numbers, a key feature of the shift toward continuous, performance-based assessment.