All senior secondary schools will be mixed and mostly day in radical changes.

The first Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) cohorts who are currently in Grade 9 will transition to senior secondary school in January 2026.

The pioneer CBC learners will sit their final assessment in junior secondary in November this year also called Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).

The placement of the Grade 9 learners in senior school will depend on pathways which will largely depend on KJSEA which will account 60% and School Based Assessment (SBA) which will account 40% of the total score.

The SBA constitutes the Knec practical’s and projects as well as written assessments done in Grade 7 and 8.

The Knec projects and practicals are done each year in second term while the written assessments are done each year in third term.

The SBA done in Grade 7 and 8 will each account 20% both making a total of 40% of the total score.

CBC system was first introduced in January 2017 when the government initiated the phased changeover from the now 40-year-old 8-4-4 curriculum.

After KJSEA, learners will be placed in various schools based on their career paths.

While Junior schools (Grade 7 to 9) were domiciled in parent primary schools, Senior schools will be a combination of the current four tiers of schools.

The four categories are national schools, extra county schools, county schools and sub-county schools.

However, under CBC, categorisation of schools will cease to exist and learners will be placed in Senior School based on three career pathways.

These are Arts and Sports Science; Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM), and Social Science.

Each of the three career pathways have what will be known as tracks (subject combination, which under CBC are known as learning areas).

Arts and Sports Science has three tracks – Performing Arts, Sports and Visual Arts.

STEM has four tracks – Pure Science, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering and Career Technology Studies (CTS).

Social Science has two tracks – Humanities and Business Studies and Language and Literature.

Your child will be placed in Senior School based on how the outcome of the KJSEA aligns with the requirements of the three pathways (Arts and Sports Science; Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM), and Social Science).

Schools will accomodate Grade 9 graduates based on their staffing and infrastructural capacity.

For instance, the current national schools have the best facilities in the country and may accomodate learners across all three pathways.

However, some extra county schools may be limited by infrastructural capacity to accomodate only allow two career pathways.

Besides the school-based formative assessment and the summertive KJSEA determining which career pathway a child will pursue, KNEC will dispatch questionnaires in which learners will state their interests and personality to help identify their strenghth.

This will help education officials pinpoint learners with special talents in areas like games or sciences to ensure they are placed in schools with the capacity to support their career choices sufficiently.

All the above factors nothwithstanding, three other factors will determine what school your child will be placed into.

Under CBC, focus is on placing learners in schools closest to their homes, meaning students will generally attend a nearby schools for their Senior education as is with Junior education where Grade 7-9 were integrated into existing primary schools.

It therefore goes to mean that placement of learners in Senior School will partly be influenced by availability of slots, equality and inclusivity.

Regions that have more schools will be at an advantage as this will mean more slots will be at their disposal.

Learners will also be placed in any school (guided by career pathway) regardless of gender, meaning existence of purely boys’ schools or girls’ schools will cease.

Regional balance and geographical location will also play a role in determining how learners will be placed in Senior School.

This aspect will save learners the need to travel miles away from home to attend a particular school as is currently the case under 8-4-4.

The CS Education Julius Migos said his Ministry will on March this year release guidelines for transition of Grade 9 learners to senior school.

All senior secondary schools will be mixed and mostly day in radical changes.

The first Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) cohorts who are currently in Grade 9 will transition to senior secondary school in January 2026.

The pioneer CBC learners will sit their final assessment in junior secondary in November this year also called Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).

The placement of the Grade 9 learners in senior school will depend on pathways which will largely depend on KJSEA which will account 60% and School Based Assessment (SBA) which will account 40% of the total score.

The SBA constitutes the Knec practical’s and projects as well as written assessments done in Grade 7 and 8.

The Knec projects and practicals are done each year in second term while the written assessments are done each year in third term.

The SBA done in Grade 7 and 8 will each account 20% both making a total of 40% of the total score.

CBC system was first introduced in January 2017 when the government initiated the phased changeover from the now 40-year-old 8-4-4 curriculum.

After KJSEA, learners will be placed in various schools based on their career paths.

While Junior schools (Grade 7 to 9) were domiciled in parent primary schools, Senior schools will be a combination of the current four tiers of schools.

The four categories are national schools, extra county schools, county schools and sub-county schools.

However, under CBC, categorisation of schools will cease to exist and learners will be placed in Senior School based on three career pathways.

These are Arts and Sports Science; Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM), and Social Science.

Each of the three career pathways have what will be known as tracks (subject combination, which under CBC are known as learning areas).

Arts and Sports Science has three tracks – Performing Arts, Sports and Visual Arts.

STEM has four tracks – Pure Science, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering and Career Technology Studies (CTS).

Social Science has two tracks – Humanities and Business Studies and Language and Literature.

Your child will be placed in Senior School based on how the outcome of the KJSEA aligns with the requirements of the three pathways (Arts and Sports Science; Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM), and Social Science).

Schools will accomodate Grade 9 graduates based on their staffing and infrastructural capacity.

For instance, the current national schools have the best facilities in the country and may accomodate learners across all three pathways.

However, some extra county schools may be limited by infrastructural capacity to accomodate only allow two career pathways.

Besides the school-based formative assessment and the summertive KJSEA determining which career pathway a child will pursue, KNEC will dispatch questionnaires in which learners will state their interests and personality to help identify their strenghth.

This will help education officials pinpoint learners with special talents in areas like games or sciences to ensure they are placed in schools with the capacity to support their career choices sufficiently.

All the above factors nothwithstanding, three other factors will determine what school your child will be placed into.

Under CBC, focus is on placing learners in schools closest to their homes, meaning students will generally attend a nearby schools for their Senior education as is with Junior education where Grade 7-9 were integrated into existing primary schools.

It therefore goes to mean that placement of learners in Senior School will partly be influenced by availability of slots, equality and inclusivity.

Regions that have more schools will be at an advantage as this will mean more slots will be at their disposal.

Learners will also be placed in any school (guided by career pathway) regardless of gender, meaning existence of purely boys’ schools or girls’ schools will cease.

Regional balance and geographical location will also play a role in determining how learners will be placed in Senior School.

This aspect will save learners the need to travel miles away from home to attend a particular school as is currently the case under 8-4-4.

The CS Education Julius Migos said his Ministry will on March this year release guidelines for transition of Grade 9 learners to senior school.