KENYA : The Ministry of Education has put in place necessary measures to ensure that all the 962,512 candidates who sat for the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination will join institutions of higher learning in line with the government mantra of “Leaving No One Behind”.

Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Ogamba, speaking on Thursday at Mitihani House during the release of the examination results, said that a total of 1,693 candidates scored grade A (plain).

The CS highlighted that the number of A’s recorded an increase as compared to 2023, where 1,216 scored the same grade.

Ogamba disclosed that 246,391 candidates attained the minimum university cut-off grade of C+ (plus) and above, representing 25.5% of the total number, a tremendous increase from the 201,133 candidates (22.27%) recorded in 2023.

“A total of 46,889 candidates attained C- (minus) and above, representing 49.41%, and those with D+ (plus) and above were 605,774, representing 62.76%,” said Ogamba.

The CS said that those who attained C+ (plus) and above will be placed in universities, while the others will be placed in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions across the country.

“In the 2024 KCSE exams, 7,743 candidates scored an A- (minus), with 4,903 being boys and 2,840 being girls,” highlighted the CS.

Ogamba said that the total number of female candidates was slightly higher than that of their male counterparts, with females being 483,523 (50.10%) and males being 481,649 (49.90%).

Nairobi led in the number of candidates, with 32,673 sitting the exams.

He said that 840 candidates had their results cancelled by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) after they were found to have engaged in examination irregularities.

“The results of another 2,829 candidates are being withheld as KNEC investigates the suspected cases of examination malpractice. The process will be concluded in the next 30 days when they will know their fate,” said the CS.

KNEC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Njeng’ere said that the 2024 KCSE candidates are the same ones who sat their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in March 2021, being the first cohort whose examination calendar was disrupted by Covid-19.

“We therefore commend them for their resilience so far,” said Njeng’ere.

He said that the 962,512 candidates who sat the 2024 KCSE were an increase of 7.19% as compared to the 899,453 candidates in 2023, with the last time when KNEC recorded such an increase being in 2020.

“I wish to commend all the centre managers for their efforts to ensure that all the candidates registered within the stipulated time frame,” said Njeng'ere.