Ranking The Top 100 Schools In Kenya Based On KCSE Results 2019/2020

Since the first Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Exam (KCSE), which was held in 1989, the list of the top schools in Kenya for every year has always been published. So, following the release of the 2019 KCSE result, a recent list of the top hundred schools in Kenya has just got out.

Note that KCSE is usually taken at the completion of Secondary Education in Kenya and is taken under very mean supervision from invigilators to keep cheating at bay. Its examinations run for a period of about one month and any form of cheating in these examinations draws serious penalties from the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).

Thus, schools or students linked to malpractice get their grades crossed. For that reason, the top hundred schools in Kenya listed below are indeed the best considering the strict barrier they broke through to make the list. That said, here are the best schools along with their locations in case you are considering where to enroll your child.

Top 100 Schools in Kenya Based on Mean Score of KCSE Results

Statistics of the 2019 KCSE Exam

The total number of candidates who sat for the 2019 KCSE was 679,222, an increase from the previous year’s number of 642,204 candidates. This means that 37,018 more students sat for the examination in 2019. From the 679,222 candidates, a total of 341,440 were female while a total number of 355,782 students were male. In essence, 14,342 more boys sat for the examination than girls. There was also a total number of 1,499 special needs candidates.

From the total number of 679,222 candidates, about 1,309 of them had their examination canceled by KNEC for malpractice related reasons.

Schools with The Highest Number of ‘A’ Grades

For a school to have the most number of ‘A’ grades, it does not certainly mean that it was among the best performing schools in the 2019 KCSE. Regardless, these schools deserve some praise as we outline them below alongside the number of ‘A’ grades they produced and their 2019 KCSE ranking.

Best Performing Underage Candidates

A number of schools also stood out for producing the best young candidates. These are 5 of such schools, including the names of the students and their grades.

Top Schools For Special Needs Education

Special needs schools were not left out as well. A total of 1,499 special needs education examination candidates sat for the 2019 examination. A majority of the special needs students had physical challenges and they still came out in flying colors. Below are schools that produced the best SNE candidates.

• Aquinas High School
• Namajanja High School
• SA High School for the Blind
• Tengecha Boys High School
• Maryhill Girls High School
• Kisii High School
• Mariga Girls
• Nanyuki High School

Overall Verdict of the 2019/2020 KCSE 

In the 2019 KCSE exam, there is an evident improvement in the overall performance of students compared to previous years. The teachers were applauded for doing an outstanding job of teaching the students with no leakage during the whole exam process.

In 2018, a total of 3,318 students scored an overall A-minus grade but 2019 saw a much-improved performance with 5,796 students scoring A-minus. This means that about 2,478 learners did better in 2019.

Various Ways of Checking KCSE Results

There are two ways of checking for KCSE results; SMS and Online. For SMS, you can send an SMS with your index number to 20076 and indicate KCSE after the index. For the online method of checking your result, visit the KNEC website and click the online result box on the KCSE section. You will then be taken to a login page where you will be required to input the username and password you used during your exam.

There is also an option of personally visiting candidate’s examination centers to collect official results slip.

Why was the 2020 KCSE Canceled?

On March 15th, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the closure of universities and other educational institutions in the country. This was in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic as the first case in the country was confirmed two days prior. Following the closure, some schools started online teaching while some stopped completely. As the number of COVID-19 cases in Kenya kept rising, with the highest daily number of confirmed cases recorded on 4th July of 2020 at 389, the government canceled the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCSE) exams.

On this note, 2020 is regarded as a lost academic year for Kenyan schools given the pandemic. This affected both primary school pupils as well as secondary school students. And since there was no exam in 2020, there will be no first-year students to enroll in universities in 2021.

When Next It will Be Taken

Schools are scheduled to resume in January 2021. As such, students who were preparing for the 2020 Kenya Certificate for Secondary Education and Kenya Certificate for Primary Education examinations are scheduled to be assessed between March and April 2021. This is according to the Education Ministry.

According to the same report, in the year 2022, there will be a significant change in the country’s academic history as the current Class 7 and Form 3 classes will be sitting for KCPE and KCSE in March and April and those now in Standard 6 and Form 2 will be writing the KCPE and KCSE tests in the same year in November and December. The normal school cycle is expected to return in 2023 as schools reopen for the first term in January.

When to Expect the Results

Those who will sit for their KCPE exam in March and April 2021 will be able to see their results on the 18th of May, 2021. The KCSE Results 2020 will be released by Education CS George Magoha at the Mitihani House Nairobi.