How University Placement And Cut Off Points Are Determined By KUCCPS

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) Chief Executive Officer, Agnes Wahome, has provided an in-depth explanation of how the placement service determines the cut-off points for student placements and the key factors considered during this process.

Speaking to a gathering of education stakeholders at the 2^nd Biennial University Funding Conference, held from February 26^th to 27^th, KUCCPS CEO elaborated on the intricacies of student placement and the mechanisms KUCCPS uses to ensure fairness, transparency, and merit-based selection.

At the heart of the placement process, Wahome emphasized that merit is the most critical factor in the selection of students. She outlined that KUCCPS has developed an advanced computer system to handle the student placement process.

Once the results from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) are received, the system immediately ranks students based on the specific academic programs they have chosen. This approach ensures that placements are done based on performance rather than other factors.

Read Also: Government Announces Recruitment of Public University Councils And Chairpersons

According to Wahome, once all students are ranked according to their performance, the placement service determines the “cut-off points.” These cut-off points are not arbitrarily set by KUCCPS but are instead the result of how many students have selected a particular program.

The last student admitted to a specific academic program essentially determines the cut-off point for that program. Wahome explained this in detail, noting, “Once the learners have been ranked, the last student who is ranked in that program forms what people know as the cut-off point.” This process ensures that the cut-off points are directly tied to student performance and the demand for each program.

However, Wahome was keen to clarify that KUCCPS itself does not set the cut-off points. Rather, the cut-off points are a natural consequence of the number of students applying for specific programs.

In other words, the demand for a program directly influences the cut-off point, with more popular programs likely to have higher cut-off points due to the larger number of students competing for limited spots.

Further expanding on the role of KUCCPS, Wahome revealed that the placement service is responsible for assigning students to a wide range of educational institutions across the country.

In total, KUCCPS collaborates with over 400 institutions, including 70 universities, 90 Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTC), and more than 300 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.

The placement service also works with 35 public teacher training colleges and, as Wahome pointed out, there is a growing demand for placing students in private teacher training colleges as well as private TVET institutions.

“The scope of our work goes beyond just universities and colleges,” Wahome said. “We also place students in the teacher training colleges, and these are just the public ones. There is also increasing demand for us to place students in private teacher colleges and private TVET institutions.”

In addition to these partnerships, Wahome highlighted the importance of KUCCPS’s technological infrastructure, which is capable of supporting the placement of students into as many institutions as needed.

She proudly revealed that the platform KUCCPS uses to manage the placement process is developed locally by Kenyan officers, making it a homegrown solution that meets the specific needs of the country’s education system.

This platform, Wahome explained, plays a crucial role in ensuring that the institutions admit students who meet the minimum academic qualifications required for each program.

“The platform we use enables institutions to verify that the students they admit meet the minimum requirements set by the institutions,” Wahome explained. This verification process adds another layer of transparency and ensures that the placements are both fair and aligned with the standards set by the educational institutions.

Read Also: The Following Students To Miss University, Here’s Why