By Linet Amuli - Reporter
Kenya, 9 January 2026 - The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has released the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results, but the announcement was dominated by a continued crackdown on cheating, with 418 candidates implicated in examination irregularities.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba officially released the results on Friday at AIC Chebisaas High School in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
He revealed that the number of candidates involved in malpractice had fallen significantly from 614 in the 2024 KCSE examinations, describing the decline as clear evidence that enhanced surveillance, stricter enforcement, and improved security measures are producing results.
According to data released by KNEC, a total of 993,000 candidates sat the examination. Male candidates numbered 492,019, while 501,214 were female, underscoring a near-equal gender representation. Candidates were examined in 30 subjects through a total of 74 examination papers.
To safeguard integrity, KNEC deployed 633 secure distribution containers nationwide for daily delivery of examination materials.
Despite the irregularities, performance remained strong. Approximately 270,000 candidates achieved a mean grade of C+ and above, qualifying them for direct university entry.
At the top tier of performance, 1,932 candidates achieved grade A, forming the highest number of top scorers recorded in recent KCSE examinations. Education officials attributed the strong performance to improved curriculum delivery, increased teacher preparedness, and tighter examination management.
Gender performance remained closely matched, with girls making up nearly half the candidature and showing comparable achievement levels to boys, continuing the trend of closing the gender gap.
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The results follow examinations that ran for five weeks, from 21 October to 21 November 2025.
William Ruto was briefed on the outcome earlier at the Eldoret State Lodge before the public announcement.
Candidates can now access their individual results via the KNEC portal at results.knec.ac.ke, while schools will receive detailed performance reports for counseling and placement purposes.
In a separate major policy shift announced by the Ministry of Education, KCSE certificates will, starting this year, be collected from sub-county education offices instead of former secondary schools.
The change aims to prevent any learner from being denied their academic documents due to outstanding school fee balances.
Education stakeholders have welcomed the reform, saying it will ease transitions to higher education and employment for thousands of former students previously affected by withheld certificates.
With the 2025 KCSE results now public, focus shifts to university and college placement, TVET opportunities, and ongoing national conversations around education access and reform in Kenya.
