Expect fewer A’s and more E’s, KCSE Report

Form Four candidates at Kisumu Girls prepare for last year’s KCSE. [Photo: File, Standard]

The number of candidates who will score grade A in this year’s Form Four national examinations is likely to drop, again.

And those who will score D, D+, D– and E are likely to increase.

In addition to these, data shows that the number of candidates who may score the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above may also reduce.

An analysis of KCSE performance for the last three years shows that candidates who score the coveted A grade has continued to drop, with last year recording the lowest.

The year 2014 recorded the highest number of students who scored grade A, at 3,042 candidates.

The number reduced to 2,685 in 2015. Last year, only 141 candidates scored the top grade.

This means that if the trend continues, fewer candidates in this year’s examination may score the prime grade.

The details are contained in KCSE 2014-16 analysis conducted by the Ministry of Education.

The Directorate of Quality Assurance and Standards at the Ministry of Education compiled the report, which finds that scores in lower grades may increase.

The report, dated July 18, 2017 says candidates who have posted grade D to E over the past three years are 557,911.

University grades

In 2014, some 128,885 scored grade D and below, representing 26.9 per cent of the candidates. In 2015, some 133,885 candidates scored grade D and below, according to the report. This represented 25.6 per cent of the candidature.

The highest data was recorded last year when 295,463 candidates scored the low grades. This represented more than half the candidates (51.7 per cent) who sat the 2016 KCSE examinations.

And for university entry grade of C+, the year 2014 recorded the highest number.

Some 159,370 candidates qualified for university education in 2014, representing 33.3 per cent of the candidature.

In 2015, the figure was a bit higher – 169,492­ – but it only represented 32.5 per cent of the 2015 candidature.

And last year, only 88,929 scored grade C+ and above, representing 15.6 per cent of the candidature.

This was the lowest qualification in the last three years, and if the trend persists, Kenyans should expect only a small number of the 615,773 candidates who will sit this year’s examinations to post the top grade.

The document further reveals data of students who post diploma and certificates courses grades of C and D+.

For the last three years, some 595,670 candidates have scored the middle-level colleges entry grades. These were 190,717 in the year 2014, 218,185 in 2015 and 186,769 in 2016.

The highest numbers were posted in 2015, with some 41.9 per cent of the candidature scoring the grades.

Overall, the report reveals that the number of candidates registering to sit KCSE examinations has been on the increase.

Negative impact

In total, there has been an increase of 90,841 candidates sitting Form Four examinations for the last three years. This represents an increase of 21 per cent.

In 2014, only 486,412 sat the examinations. This rose to 525,872 in 2015 and last year, the number was 577,253.

In terms of gender distribution, an additional 49,363 girls have enrolled to sit KCSE for the last three years. An addition of 41,478 boys have also registered to write the KCSE tests over the same period.

“The candidature increase for males has been on decline while that of female has been going up with the highest growth registered in 2016 (29,542 ),” reads the report.

The report finds that a total of 33 counties recorded candidature increase of about 10 to 30 per cent.

“Four counties had candidature increase of below 10 per cent over the period. This could have negative impact on access and transition initiatives in education,” it says.

The report further lists three counties – Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot – as registering a candidature increase of about 40 per cent.

“This could indicate that more children accessed education,” says report.