The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) has stated the dates when registration of candidates for national exams and assessments will start and end.
Knec launched the 2026 candidates registration exercise yesterday led by its CEO David Njengere.
“I wish to report that KNEC has begun putting in place the prerequisite logistics for conduct of the 2026 assessments and KCSE examination, including: preparation of the online registration portals; drafting of the timetables; preparation of circulars on registration of the 2026 candidates; need analysis and identification of areas requiring improvement; preparation of the platform for registration of Grade 10 learners,” said Njengere flanked by top education officials including CS Education, Julius Ogamba.
Njengere said 2025 was particularly a unique year for KNEC, as the Council was administering the KJSEA for the first time, to an estimated 1,130,587 candidates.
For 2026, based on previous candidature trends and the anticipated upsurge of candidates enrolling for the KCSE examination, KNEC anticipates to register about 3,700,000 candidates.
Grade 6 learners will sit for Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), Grade 9 learners will sit for Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) while Form 4 students will sit for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
According to Knec, registration for KPSEA candidates will start on 16th February to 16th March 2026.
KJSEA candidates will be registered begining 2nd March to 31st March 2026 while KCSE candidated wil have their registration running from 16th February to 31st March 2026.
Knec will issue a circular to guide registration for the three national tests. The circular will also list requirements for this year registration.
For KPSEA and KJSEA schools will log into the Knec CBA portal to register learners with assessment numbers.
According to Knec only eligible learners should be presented for KPSEA, KJSEA and KCSE exams.
For KJSEA candidate must be existing in the Grade 9 database. He or she must also have a KPSEA Performance Report.
They must also have School Based Assessments (SBA) scores for Grades 7 and 8 in all the Learning Areas.
Schools are warned against registration of ghost candidates which constitutes to an assessment malpractice and attracts sanctions, including de-registration of the schools as a KNEC assessment centre.
The Heads of Institutions must ensure accuracy of the registration data for all learners, Including the following:
- Correct spelling and order of learners’ names as documented in their Birth Certificates;
- Gender;
- Year of birth;
- Citizenship;
- Religious Education option registered for eg CRE, IRE, HRE;
Any requests for transfer of Grade 6 and 9 must be done online to avoid double registration of candidates. Transfer of candidates will not be allowed after the closure of the registration portal.
After registration parents can then confirm if the candidate is registered for KPSEA, KJSEA or KCSE by sending an SMS with the candidate index number for KCSE or assessment number in the case of KPSEA or KJSEA starting with the examor assessment type to 20076.
For example KCSE123506013 for checking KCSE exam for a candidate of index number 123506013.
Then a confirmation message will be sent thereafter showing if the candidate with the provided index or assessment number is actually registered.