Concern over growing inequality as 47,798 candidates score E

Education CS Julius Ogamba and Basic Education PS Julius Bitok before the release of 2025 KCSE results, on January 9, 2026. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Some 47,798 candidates scored grade E in last year’s KCSE examinations, revealing a worrying trend of low grades under the 8-4-4 system.

The poor grades demonstrated over the years in KCSE examinations have raised hard questions about equity, quality and the true value of more than a decade spent in school.

In the 2025 KCSE examination, 486,095 learners out of 993,226 candidates scored a mean grade of D+ and below.

The breakdown shows that 126,915 scored D+, 145,557 obtained D (plain), 161,724 got D-, while 47,798 candidates scored an E.

The figures mirror the situation in 2024, when 482,039 out of 962,512 candidates scored D+ and below, reinforcing concerns that thousands of learners are exiting the education system without the grades needed for higher education, technical training or meaningful employment.

Education experts warn that the trend points to a deeper systemic problem rather than individual failure.

“When almost half of the candidates score D+ and below year after year, we must stop blaming learners and start interrogating the system,” said Dr. Japhet Mugo, an education policy analyst. “These are children who have spent over 14 years in basic education. The question is: what has the system equipped them with?”

Usawa Agenda Survey released last year found that the category of secondary school a learner attends rather than their KCPE marks largely determines success or failure in KCSE exam.

“This disproportionate resource allocation based on the category of school one attends impacts KCSE performance more than secondary school entry marks,” said Emmanuel Manyasa, Executive Director of Usawa Agenda.

According to the survey, 48 per cent of secondary schools in Kenya are day schools, with 73 per cent of sub-county schools falling into this category.

In contrast, there is no national day school, while only 4.4 per cent of county schools and 3.6 per cent of extra-county schools are day schools.

The report further revealed that national schools have more than three times the number of teachers per examined subject compared to sub-county schools, and more than double the national average.

“Sub-county schools offer the least opportunity to excel, while national schools offer the best. Sub-county schools are the most vulnerable to outward teacher transitions among all categories,” Manyasa said.

Beyond staffing, national schools were found to have more experienced principals, better-equipped laboratories and functional libraries, advantages that directly influence learning outcomes.

Parents are increasingly shunning county and sub-county schools, concerned that their children may become part of the growing statistics of poor performers.

This anxiety is not unfounded. KCSE 2025 results show that national schools transitioned more than 98 per cent of their candidates to university.

Usawa Agenda argues that unless the playing field is levelled, Kenya risks entrenching education inequality.

“As a country, we are working to achieve SDG 4 inclusive and equitable quality education for all. But that goal assumes the system is just. The evidence suggests otherwise,” said Manyasa.