Tough exams rules for record 3.6 million candidates

By  David Muchunguh

Editor – Education Hub

Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

• Parents and candidates warned against paying money to people promising to provide examination papers before they are administered.
• Dr Njengere said armed security officers would not be deployed to KPSEA and KJSEA centres as part of reforms aimed at reducing the stakes at this level.

A record 3,634,846 candidates have been registered for national assessments and examinations that will be administered under new, tough rules by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) to safeguard their integrity and credibility.

The council will administer two competency-based assessments, the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) as well as the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

The rules were spelt out on Monday by senior government officials during the launch of the examination season at the KNEC headquarters in Nairobi.

“Let me affirm today that we will have no mercy on anyone who will be found engaging in any form of malpractice. All candidates, centre managers, supervisors and invigilators must comply with examination regulations, failing which they will be subjected to the full force of the law,” Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba warned.

KNEC chief executive officer Dr David Njengere warned parents and candidates against paying money to people promising to provide examination papers before they are administered.

“All candidates will see the papers for the first time on the day of the examination. I advise parents and candidates not to waste their money on promises that anyone can get them the papers (before exam time),” he said.

Dr Njengere said all examination storage containers would be secured with smart padlocks which were first piloted last year. The locks will be monitored from KNEC headquarters and will record when they are opened or closed and whether they have been interfered with.

The containers will be guarded around the clock by four armed security officers, two during the day and two at night.

Dr Njengere said examination centre managers, who are heads of institutions, would carry a heavy responsibility and must be personally present at centres where examination containers are situated.

The containers will be opened at 6am for collection of KPSEA and KJSEA papers and at 7am and 12.30pm for KCSE papers.

To prevent the morning and afternoon session papers from being mixed up, KNEC has packed the morning papers in white labelled cartons with blue straps while afternoon papers will be in yellow labelled cartons with black straps.

Further security feature is the personalisation of question papers with candidates’ details. The details will be removed at the end of each session to ensure examiners mark anonymised scripts.

Officials involved in the examinations and assessments will begin mandatory briefings on Wednesday at all sub-counties. KNEC officers will conduct the sessions and delegation will not be allowed.

Rehearsals for the KCSE examinations will be held on Friday, October 16, 2026. This will be followed by the administration of KCSE papers with low candidature from October 19 to 30, while papers with large candidature will be administered from November 2 to 20.

The KPSEA and KJSEA assessments will be administered from October 26 to 30.

Dr Njengere said armed security officers would not be deployed to KPSEA and KJSEA centres as part of reforms aimed at reducing the stakes at this level.

However, two security officers will be assigned to each KCSE examination centre, with centres hosting more than 250 candidates receiving additional officers.

KPSEA has a record candidature of 1,380,463 learners, up from 1,298,089 last year. KJSEA has 1,206,028 learners, up from 1,130,679, while 1,048,355 candidates have registered for KCSE, up from 996,078 last year.

Notably, this is the first time KCSE candidature has crossed the one million mark. It is also the second last edition as the last 8-4-4 class will sit the KCSE examination next year.

“This growth in numbers means more resources and greater dedication from all of us in the field administration of these examinations and assessments,” said CS Ogamba.

The acting Teachers Service Commission (TSC) chief executive officer Evaleen Mitei said the commission had identified and vetted 59,904 examiners to mark the assessments and examinations.

She called on teachers to attend the induction sessions and warned that those involved in examination malpractice would face disciplinary action.

“The credibility of examinations is our responsibility and national calling. TSC, through teachers, is confident that learners are ready. We've done everything to ensure total integrity of exams. When we release the examination papers, we entrust them to our partners to deliver credible exams,” said Ms Mitei.

Principal Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Interior Beverly Opwora said the ministry would coordinate with the Ministry of Gender to handle and assist cases involving pregnant candidates. She was representing Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo.

She added that all counties had drawn contingency plans for disruptions that could be caused by above-average rainfall associated with the El Niño phenomenon, as predicted by the Kenya Meteorological Department.

“Field officers from all the relevant ministries and agencies shall be on standby to provide whatever support that will be required to ensure that our processes run seamlessly and that none of our candidates are unnecessarily disadvantaged. We have expanded the storage capacity for examination and assessment materials by installing 48 additional containers in sub-counties. This is an addition to the current 653 containers,” said Mr Ogamba.

Ms Opwora said various security agencies would be involved during the examination season. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) will be involved because “the exercise must be intelligence-led to deter malpractices before they happen”.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will also be involved.

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