As Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba unveiled the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results on Thursday, January 9, 2024, attention turned to how private schools fared in the competitive national exams.
Ogamba revealed that 962,512 candidates had sat for the national exams and emphasized the government’s commitment to advancing higher education opportunities.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) nullified the results of 840 candidates due to confirmed cases of exam malpractice.
Additionally, the results of 2,899 candidates have been withheld pending investigations, which are expected to conclude within 30 days.
National performance landscape
National government schools dominated the results, outperforming other categories in most higher grades.
The breakdown of KCSE results shows that national government schools secured 81.22% of all Grade A scores and showed strong representation in A- and B+ grades.
Below is the breakdown:
Grade A: 1,375 students, representing 81.22% of the total Grade A scores.
Grade A-: 4,611 students, representing 59.55% of the total Grade A- scores.
Grade B+: 6,947 students, representing 36.28% of the total Grade B+ scores.
Grade B: 8,185 students, representing 18.98% of the total Grade B scores.
Grade B-: 7,672 students, representing 10.18% of the total Grade B- scores.
Grade C+: 5,498 students, representing 5.53% of the total Grade C+ scores.
Grade C: 3,409 students, representing 3.05% of the total Grade C scores.
Grade C-: 1,714 students, representing 1.44% of the total Grade C- scores.
Grade D+: 743 students, representing 0.58% of the total Grade D+ scores.
Grade D: 447 students, representing 0.29% of the total Grade D scores.
Grade D-: 436 students, representing 0.29% of the total Grade D- scores.
Grade E: 161 students, representing 0.33% of the total Grade E scores.
Exra County government schools came second, followed by private schools while county and sub-county schools came fourth and fifth respectively.
Private schools: detailed grade breakdown
With 962,512 candidates sitting for the KCSE, private institutions represented a notable share, hosting 59,631 students.
The performance of private schools highlighted their consistent contributions to academic excellence, although their representation in top grades remained modest compared to national government schools.
A total of 18,058 candidates in private schools attained a Grade C+ and above, qualifying them for direct admission to universities.
Below is the breakdown of the grades attained by private school:
Grade A: 142 students from private schools out of a total of 1,693 nationwide. This represents 8.39% of all Grade A scores.
Grade A-: 619 students from private schools out of a total of 7,743 nationwide. This represents 7.99% of all Grade A- scores.
Grade B+: 1,533 students from private schools out of a total of 19,150 nationwide. This represents 8.01% of all Grade B+ scores.
Grade B: 3,576 students from private schools out of a total of 43,120 nationwide. This represents 8.29% of all Grade B scores.
Grade B-: 5,826 students from private schools out of a total of 75,347 nationwide. This represents 7.73% of all Grade B- scores.
Grade C+: 6,362 students from private schools out of a total of 99,338 nationwide. This represents 6.40% of all Grade C+ scores.
Grade C: 5,922 students from private schools out of a total of 111,717 nationwide. This represents 5.30% of all Grade C scores.
Grade C-: 5,623 students from private schools out of a total of 118,781 nationwide. This represents 4.73% of all Grade C- scores.
Grade D+: 5,835 students from private schools out of a total of 128,885 nationwide. This represents 4.53% of all Grade D+ scores.
Grade D: 7,688 students from private schools out of a total of 153,334 nationwide. This represents 5.01% of all Grade D scores.
Grade D-: 10,723 students from private schools out of a total of 151,487 nationwide. This represents 7.08% of all Grade D- scores.
Grade E: 5,782 students from private schools out of a total of 48,333 nationwide. This represents 11.96% of all Grade E scores.
