Thousands of students across the country who are yet to receive SMS notifications following the release of the 2026/2027 university and college placement results have been urged not to panic, after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) confirmed that the notification process is still ongoing.
The assurance from KUCCPS comes amid growing anxiety among applicants who, hours after the placement results were announced, reported that they had not received text messages confirming whether they had secured admission into universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions or teacher training colleges.
Speaking during an interview on NTV, KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer Agnes Wahome said the placement agency deliberately prioritised sending SMS notifications to applicants who had successfully secured placements before notifying those who were unsuccessful.
According to Wahome, the staggered rollout of the messages was intended to ensure that students who had already been placed could immediately begin preparing for admission and funding processes, while unsuccessful applicants would receive official communication afterwards.
“We have those that indicated in the application that, in the event they do not get any of the main preference choices, place me in any of the available programmes. We also have about 3,000 that said that in the event that I do not get any of these, I do not want to be considered for anything,” Wahome explained.
She noted that many of the calls and inquiries being received by KUCCPS were from applicants who fell into these categories and had not yet received any communication.
“They are the ones who are calling and saying that I did not get a message. So they will get a message informing them that they were not successful; it’s just that yesterday we first focused on the ones that got the placement. We will be sending them the messages,” she said.
The clarification is expected to ease concerns among thousands of students and parents who had feared that failure to receive an SMS meant there had been an error in the placement process.
Beyond the ongoing notifications, KUCCPS has also announced a significant policy shift that will give students greater flexibility in choosing their academic paths.
Wahome revealed that the placement agency will open a one-month application window to allow students who have already been placed to apply for course changes if they wish to pursue different programmes.
The initiative is aimed at helping learners align their studies with their interests, career ambitions and academic strengths instead of remaining in programmes they may no longer wish to pursue.
The new window will also benefit students who are already enrolled in universities but have realised they are struggling with their current courses. Such students will be allowed to submit applications to change programmes, provided they do so before September.
The move represents a major departure from previous placement cycles, where opportunities to change courses immediately after placement were limited.
Officials say the new approach is intended to ensure students have the best possible chance of succeeding academically while supporting the government’s broader objective of improving completion rates in higher education institutions.
The decision also aligns with ongoing reforms in the higher education sector, which seek to guarantee that every qualified learner can access university or college education and benefit from government financial support through the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) and the Higher Education Fund (HEF).
In another major development, approximately 51,000 students who qualified for placement but failed to submit applications during the just-concluded placement exercise will also receive another opportunity to join institutions of higher learning.
The students, who met the academic requirements but did not participate in the placement process, will be allowed to submit fresh applications alongside candidates seeking available vacancies once KUCCPS reopens its portal.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba directed KUCCPS to immediately establish a mechanism that will facilitate late applications, emphasizing that no eligible student should lose the opportunity to pursue higher education simply because they missed the original application deadline.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, the government recognises that many students may have had genuine reasons for failing to submit applications within the stipulated timelines.
“We recognise that some eligible students did not apply for placement because they may have opted to seek alternative pathways to higher education and training. Still, some of them may have missed the opportunity to apply because of other circumstances,” Ogamba said while releasing the placement results.
He urged all eligible candidates who did not apply during the initial placement exercise to take advantage of the fresh application window once it is opened, reiterating the government’s commitment to ensuring that every qualified learner has access to higher education.
The Cabinet Secretary said expanding access to universities, TVET institutions and colleges remains a key government priority as Kenya seeks to increase the number of young people acquiring skills needed in the labour market.
This year’s placement exercise saw KUCCPS place 293,869 students into universities, TVET institutions and teacher training colleges for the 2026/2027 academic year.
The placements followed the release of the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results, in which 980,535 candidates sat the national examination. Of these, 268,729 attained the minimum C+ grade required for direct admission into universities, while thousands of others qualified for diploma, certificate and artisan programmes in TVET institutions and colleges.
With the SMS notification process continuing and a fresh application window set to open, education officials have encouraged students to remain patient, regularly check the KUCCPS portal for updates and take advantage of the upcoming opportunities to secure placements or change courses where necessary.
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