TSC Kicks Off Release of Promotion Results for 34,016 Vacancies
The wait is almost over for thousands of teachers who sat the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) promotion interviews in September.
The Commission has kicked off the release of results, and candidates are expected to know their fate by Friday, November 20, 2026, next week.
The announcement closes a long process that began with one of the largest promotion adverts in recent years and passed through a controversial rule change. It now moves into the decisive stage, in which successful candidates are formally told they have made it.
Interviews Held in September
The interviews ran in two batches. For primary school teachers, they lasted six days, from September 8 to 15, 2026.
Field directors conducted them at regional and county levels, which kept candidates close to their home stations and spread the workload across the country.
Interviews for post-primary teachers, meaning those in secondary schools and Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs), ran for seven days, from September 17 to 25, 2026. They also covered Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs).
The scale was large. According to the Commission’s figures, the exercise attracted about 126,000 applications, from which 78,732 teachers were shortlisted and invited to interviews.
The competition was stiff because the positions on offer were far fewer than the number of teachers hoping to move up.
34,016 Vacancies, Ksh 2 Billion Budget
TSC advertised 34,016 promotion vacancies for teachers in job groups C2 to D4, backed by a Ksh 2 billion allocation under the 2026/2027 financial year programme.
The posts covered classroom teaching positions, senior teaching grades, deputy headteachers, deputy principals, senior masters, principals and other senior administrative roles across primary schools, junior schools, secondary schools and TTCs.
The guidelines for the exercise are contained in TSC Circular No. 13/2026. They remain in force until June 30, 2027.
Why 1,631 Slots Were Readvertised
Not every vacancy attracted enough qualified applicants. After the main advert, the Commission readvertised 1,631 promotion slots because too few teachers had applied for them.
TSC blamed the shortfall on a rigid requirement in the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG). Under it, teachers had to have served at least three years in their current grade before applying. Many otherwise capable teachers fell short by months and were locked out.
The Commission responded by revising the rule and lowering the requirement to two years. The change also followed pressure from P1 teachers who had been deployed to junior schools and were barred from applying by the same condition.
For many of them, the rule was a bureaucratic barrier rather than a measure of merit. Their years of service were real, but the grade rules did not recognise them in the way the promotion framework required.
The readvertised vacancies cover three promotional posts:
Advert No. 108/2026, Deputy Principal III (Regular): Graded D1 on T-Scale 11, with 132 vacancies. These target teachers moving into deputy leadership roles in secondary and post-primary institutions.
Advert No. 109/2026, Senior Master I: Also D1 on T-Scale 11, with 29 vacancies. This is a senior teaching and departmental leadership role, typically requiring a strong record of both instructional delivery and administrative contribution.
Advert No. 110/2026, Deputy Headteacher II (Regular): Graded C4 on T-Scale 9, this is by far the largest category, with 1,470 vacancies.
The Deputy Headteacher II category accounts for most of the readvertised slots. That points to a particular shortage of qualified applicants for deputy headship in primary schools, which is where the three-year rule is likely to have bitten hardest.
The Roadmap Behind the Results
The release follows a defined roadmap that moves results through several layers of approval before they reach candidates.
First, the TSC Director of Staffing, Dr. Samwel Marigat, was tasked with presenting the promotional interview results and reports to the Commission Secretary, who is currently the acting CEO, Eveleen Mitei. That was scheduled for Monday, October 26, 2026.
Second, Dr. Marigat was to present the same results and reports to the Field Services Committee (FSC) on Monday, November 2, 2026.
Third, the FSC was to present the results to the TSC Board. The Board is tasked with communicating the results to successful candidates within a ten-day window running from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 20, 2026.
That window explains why teachers are being told to expect answers by next Friday. The Commission has been working through the chain step by step, and the final stage, communication to candidates, is now under way.
How Teachers Will Know Their Status
Under the circular, the Board gives final approval to the list of successful candidates before it is published on the TSC website.
Only TSC numbers are published, not names, so teachers should have their numbers ready when they check the lists.
Teachers should also keep a clear distinction in mind. Being shortlisted is not a promotion, and attending an interview does not guarantee appointment. Only inclusion on the approved list, followed by a formal promotion letter, confirms that a teacher has been selected.
Selection is based on merit as reflected in interview scores. The Commission also takes into account constitutional requirements on gender representation, regional diversity and inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Scoring criteria differ by grade and cover academic and professional qualifications, length of service in the current grade, age, performance appraisal, professional contributions and administrative responsibility.
For senior positions, leadership experience and time in the current grade carry considerable weight. For Deputy Principal I, administrative responsibility and length of stay in the grade together account for 50 marks. For Deputy Headteacher I, the same two factors account for 55 marks.
What Happens After the Results
Teachers who find their TSC numbers on the list should not relax. Several steps follow.
Read the promotion letter carefully. The letter will confirm the terms of the appointment, the reporting period and other instructions. Reporting dates are not uniform, so each teacher must follow what is written in their own letter.
Accept within 30 days. Under Regulation 81 of the Code of Regulations for Teachers (2015), an offer of promotion lapses if it is not accepted within 30 days. Teachers should not wait for further communication before responding.
Prepare for deployment. Promotion does not automatically mean staying at the current school. Heads and deputy heads are posted to institutions where vacancies are available. In earlier exercises, school heads and their deputies have often been posted outside their sub-counties, while teachers promoted to senior master and senior teacher positions have often been redeployed within their existing sub-counties. The circular, however, sets no absolute rule either way. Each posting depends on the vacancy and the Commission’s staffing needs.
Check your records. The Commission retains the authority to review, correct or revoke promotion decisions where material errors, fraudulent information or procedural irregularities are found. It may also reroute, repost or reassign a teacher who has already been promoted.
January 2027 Postings
Although results are due this month, the actual movement of teachers is expected to come later. Successful candidates are expected to be deployed and begin their new appointments from January 2027, within the 2026/2027 financial year that runs to June 2027.
The circular does not expressly guarantee that every promoted teacher will be posted in January. The timing will depend on the completion of approvals, the availability of vacancies and the issuance of individual letters.
The Commission has also set January 27, 2027, as the deadline for management to submit an exit report on the exercise to the TSC Board, to support monitoring and future improvements.
A Warning Against Fraud
As with previous exercises, TSC has cautioned teachers against paying anyone who claims they can influence or speed up promotions. The exercise is free of charge, and canvassing may lead to automatic disqualification.
Teachers who suspect fraud can report it to the Director of Staffing, the Deputy Director of Staffing, the nearest TSC office, TSC headquarters or a police station.
The warning is especially relevant now, when anxious candidates may be targeted by conmen claiming to have inside access to the lists.
Digital Systems Behind the Process
The 2026/2027 guidelines also point towards greater automation. TSC plans to integrate its Teachers Online Services portal, Teacher Promotion Module, Teacher Management Information System, Human Resource Management Information System and other platforms.
These include the Posting/Entry/Exit Module, Electronic Document Management System, TPAD, the Leave Management Module and the Discipline Management Module.
The aim is to cut manual bottlenecks, improve the accuracy of personnel records and make decisions easier to coordinate across the teacher management system.
For candidates, better integration could mean smoother handling of application details, professional records and posting information.
What Teachers Should Do Now
With the release window closing on November 20, teachers who attended the September interviews should:
- Watch official TSC announcements and the Commission’s website for the published lists.
- Have their TSC numbers ready to verify their status.
- Check their Teachers Online Services accounts and any communication from their county or sub-county offices.
- Beware of anyone demanding payment for information or favours.
- If successful, read the promotion letter immediately and accept within 30 days.
The Bottom Line
For thousands of teachers, the coming week will end months of uncertainty. The exercise began with 34,016 vacancies and a Ksh 2 billion budget.
It drew about 126,000 applications, saw 78,732 candidates shortlisted, and required a mid-course rule change after the three-year requirement left 1,631 slots under-subscribed. It now reaches its most anticipated moment.
For those whose numbers appear on the list, the next steps are to accept the offer within 30 days and prepare for a possible new posting in January 2027.
For those who miss out, the revised two-year rule and the Commission’s annual promotion cycles mean further opportunities are likely to follow.
Either way, teachers should rely on official TSC channels for information until the final results are out.
