The Kenya National Examinations Council – KNEC has announced the adoption of a new KCSE grading system which will begin with the KCSE 2023 batch. The need for a new grading system was initiated as a drive towards a new educational reform.
The old 8-4-4 KCSE grading system which has been the standard grading system over the years was known to disadvantage some students because their best subjects were disregarded if they did not fall into the cluster.
The former grading system has been criticized by educational experts as one that promotes dropouts by offering exams that were essentially summative for accreditation and placement.
About the New KNEC KCSE Grading System
- According to the new approach, English and Kiswahili will be used to assess a learner’s literacy skills, while Mathematics and any Science course assess the learner’s numeracy.
- The new grading system will consider mathematics and one (1) language (English, Kiswahili, or Kenyan Sign Language) will be the only two (2) mandatory subjects in the new grading system that will be applied to the 2024 KCSE exam unlike the previous KCSE examination grading scheme which took seven courses into account, that is two (2) science courses, mathematics, English, Kiswahili, and two other disciplines.
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New KNEC KCSE Grading Scheme 2023/2024
Two (2) Compulsory Subjects.
students are required to pick Mathematics which is a mandatory subject with one of any of the best language-based subjects.
- Mathematics
- English, Kiswahili, or Sign language
Other Subjects
Students will be required to select five (5) of their best performing subjects
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How to Calculate KCSE Grade 2023/2024
Follow these steps to calculate your Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education 2023/2024;
Assuming a candidate by the name of Kate sat for KCSE and obtained the following grades;
| Subject | Grade | Score |
| Mathematics | B | 9 |
| English | C+ | 7 |
| Kiswahili | B+ | 10 |
| Biology | B+ | 10 |
| Chemistry | C | 6 |
| Agriculture | A- | 11 |
| CRE | B- | 8 |
| Geography | C- | 5 |
To calculate Kate’s result using the new KCSE grading from the marks obtained above we will pick mandatory
- mathematics (9) and the best language subject is Kiswahili (10) equals 19
- Finally, five (5) best performing subjects which are Biology (10), Chemistry (6), Agriculture (11), CRE (8), Geography (5) equals 40
- Total of two (2) compulsory subjects = 19 + Five (5) best performing subjects = 40. Therefore Kate’s total will be equal to 59 Points.
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