Nairobi — The release of the November 2025 Advocates Training Programme (ATP) examination results has exposed deep divisions within Kenya’s legal fraternity, with senior lawyers split over whether falling pass rates reflect weak legal education institutions or a punitive assessment system.
Data released by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) on December 22 showed an overall dip in performance compared to the previous year, intensifying debate over the direction of legal training and the standards applied in qualifying advocates for admission to the Bar.
A total of 2,968 candidates sat the examinations held between November 13 and 25, comprising 1,835 regular candidates and 1,133 re-sit candidates.
Of these, only 397 candidates managed to pass all nine units — a statistic many lawyers say underscores how increasingly difficult the ATP has become.
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While Trial Advocacy (ATP 104) recorded the strongest outcome with a 97.49 per cent pass rate, Professional Ethics (ATP 105) once again posted the poorest performance at 25.38 per cent. It marked the third consecutive year the unit has ranked lowest, a trend CLE described as troubling.
The results triggered sharply contrasting reactions from senior advocates with former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi blaming what he described as declining standards at some law schools.
“These are the consequences of those village law faculties that some of you were defending,” Havi said, arguing that poorly resourced institutions and unqualified teaching staff are undermining the quality of legal training long before students reach the ATP stage.
Others, however, argued that the problem lies less with universities and more with the culture of assessment within the legal education system.
Lawyer Omondi Jaganyi said parts of the system appear deliberately structured to fail students rather than equip them for practice.
“I have studied in two different systems — one designed to develop students, and another calculated to frustrate them,” Jaganyi said, recalling what he termed overly rigid assessment rules at the University of Nairobi that adversely affected his academic trajectory.
Gender-based data from the November 2025 results added another layer to the debate.
Among regular candidates, women continued to outperform men, recording pass rates of between 55.5 per cent and 58.5 per cent across units, compared to male pass rates ranging from 41.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent.
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Performance among re-sit candidates was more uneven, with significant disparities across units and gender.
Notably, female re-sit candidates recorded a zero per cent pass rate in Professional Ethics, highlighting persistent challenges in repeat attempts.
In response to the criticism, CLE said it has been implementing reforms in the setting, administration and marking of ATP examinations.
The regulator also noted that 11 candidates with special needs were accommodated during the November sitting.
CLE further pointed to ongoing stakeholder engagement, including a December 2025 conference held in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, aimed at shaping the future of legal education and assessment in Kenya.
