KNEC Boss Blames Poor KCSE Results on Low Primary School Entry Marks

The head of Kenya’s national examinations body has pushed back against criticism of sub-county secondary schools’ performance, arguing that comparisons with elite national schools fail to account for significant differences in student intake.

David Njengere, Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya National Examination Council, made the remarks during a Tuesday television interview, where he addressed growing concerns about achievement gaps between different categories of secondary institutions following the release of 2025 examination results.

Njengere contended that evaluating school performance without considering students’ academic standing upon Form One entry presents an incomplete picture of educational outcomes. He emphasized that the education pipeline effectively predetermines student trajectories well before final examinations.

“From a statistical perspective, examining results at the sub-county level without considering the entry behaviour of these learners in Form One would be unfair,” the examination council chief stated during his appearance on Citizen TV.

He explained that Kenya’s current school selection system channels top-performing primary school graduates—those scoring 400 marks and above in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education—predominantly toward national schools. Meanwhile, sub-county institutions typically enroll students who achieved 200 marks or lower in their primary leaving examinations.

This structural disparity, according to Njengere, makes it unreasonable to expect comparable outcomes between school categories after only four years of secondary education.

Despite defending current performance levels, Njengere pointed to encouraging trends within sub-county institutions. He cited data showing that approximately 13 percent of sub-county students achieve C+ grades or higher—the minimum qualification for direct university admission—suggesting untapped potential within these schools.

“The statistics indicate that if all factors were held constant and we allocated more resources to those schools, there is no reason why any child should fail,” Njengere observed.

The examination body chief’s comments follow widespread discussion about performance disparities in the wake of the 2025 KCSE results, which showed many sub-county students earning C and D grades.

National examination data revealed that among 993,226 candidates who sat the 2025 KCSE, 1,932 achieved straight A grades, while 270,715 attained the C+ threshold for university entry. A total of 507,131 candidates scored C- or above, with 634,082 earning D+ and higher—an increase from 605,774 in the previous year.

The debate highlights ongoing challenges in Kenya’s education system regarding resource allocation and equity across different school categories.