Learners sitting this year’s Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) will not be judged on their end-of-term papers alone.
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has confirmed that final results will blend continuous classroom assessment with scores from the national tests.
KNEC Chief Executive David Njengere made the announcement on Sunday, October 25, in a message to candidates a day before the exams began on Monday, October 26.
“For KPSEA and KJSEA candidates, your results will combine your scores in school-based assessments and the summative assessment you are about to sit,” he said.
In practice, a candidate’s overall performance is built from several parts. For KJSEA, 60 per cent comes from the national exam itself, while 20 per cent is drawn from school-based assessments (SBA) in Grades 7 and 8. The remaining 20 per cent is carried over from the learner’s KPSEA performance, bringing the total to 100 per cent.
KPSEA works differently. Instead of numerical scores, it uses capacity bands. It also does not decide which school a child joins. Its role is to feed 20 per cent into the learner’s future Senior School placement score and to help gauge how well the curriculum is working.
Whatever a child scores in KPSEA, a place in Grade 7 is guaranteed, since the government has announced a 100 per cent transition.
Under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, the Ministry of Education replaced the old marks-and-grades model with four performance bands, exceeding expectations for the strongest learners, then meeting expectations, approaching expectations, and below expectations for those who need the most support.
Njengere also addressed this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates, reminding them that they belong to a historic group.
“The 2026 KCSE is the second-last examination under the 8-4-4 system as the country progressively transitions from it. You are therefore among the final cohorts representing an important chapter in Kenya’s education journey,” he said.
He also warned candidates against succumbing to pressure to cheat, noting that anyone involved in examination malpractice risks having their results cancelled.
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