Nairobi — The Ministry of Education has rejected more than 66,000 appeals from learners seeking a review of their Grade 10 senior school placements following the release of the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) results, citing limited capacity in popular schools.
Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the ministry processed a total of 183,000 transfer and review requests, out of which 116,000 were approved while 66,000 were declined.
“Out of the 183,000 appeals that have been processed, 116,000 have been approved and 66,000 have been declined. That is the position we are at now,” Bitok said during an interview on Saturday, December 27.
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According to the PS, the bulk of the rejected appeals involved learners applying to a small number of elite institutions that are already overstretched. He noted that more than 50,000 learners applied to fewer than 20 top-tier schools nationwide, each with an average capacity of about 500 students.
“The main reason why we are declining most of the requests is capacity. You cannot have over 50,000 students competing for space in just 20 schools. It is simply impossible to manage,” Bitok explained.
The ministry said the initial Grade 10 placement exercise was fully automated and guided by multiple factors, including learners’ choices, performance in the KJSEA examination, psychometric test results, equity considerations, and the capacity of individual schools. The system, Bitok said, was designed to promote fairness and merit while ensuring equitable distribution of learners across the country.
The Ministry of Education announced the 2025 KJSEA results on Thursday, December 11, before releasing the Grade 10 placements on Friday, December 19. A seven-day window for reviewing placements was subsequently opened on December 23 to allow dissatisfied learners to seek revisions.
In a statement at the time, Bitok urged candidates with concerns to channel their appeals through their former Grade 9 schools or Ministry of Education Sub-County and County offices.
“The review is guided by an automated system that matches learner preferences with performance and available slots in schools. During the review period, issues such as incorrect gender entries are also addressed,” he said.
Despite the high number of rejected appeals, the ministry has now opened the door for a second revision exercise. Bitok said the move is aimed at redistributing learners to schools with available capacity, particularly public C1 institutions in remote areas that are struggling to attract students.
“One sad thing is that several schools in some areas are not attracting enough students. As a ministry, we are thinking hard about how to ensure these schools receive learners from across the country,” Bitok said.
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He added that the second revision window is expected to run between January 6 and January 9, 2026, allowing affected learners to make fresh applications for alternative institutions.
Meanwhile, learners whose transfer requests were approved can begin downloading their admission letters from Sunday, December 28. The ministry has directed that all Grade 10 learners report to their respective senior schools starting January 12.
Bitok acknowledged that the placement process has generated dissatisfaction among some parents and candidates, attributing the concerns to intense competition for limited slots in popular schools as well as miscommunication during the school selection process.
However, he maintained that the ministry remains committed to a placement system that balances learner choice with fairness, equity, and the realities of available infrastructure across the country.
