President William Ruto has pledged to increase the number of teacher promotions from the current 25,000 to 50,000 annually.
Speaking during a State House meeting with teachers, Ruto said his government will increase allocation for teacher promotions from sh 1 billion to sh 2 billion yearly.
Unlike previous regimes, President Ruto has been consistent in promoting huge number of teachers each year.
Since he took office in 2022 a total of 97,255 teachers have been promoted, the largest to be witnessed in short span.
TSC declared a total of 14,034 teacher promotions in December 2022, 36,275 in September 2023, 25,633 in 2024 and 21,313 in August 2025 bringing the total to 97,255.
Approximately 10,000 teachers who had attended the State House meeting hosted by the President, applauded this move which signals an end to perennial stagnation.
Also primary school headteachers through Kenya Primary School Heads Association (Kepsha) pushed for their confirmation as Principals.
They sought to be promoted to job group D1 over expanded mandate. The additional responsibility came after they were appointed acting Principals in junior schools.
Adding weight to this move, Knut secretary general, Collins Oyuu asked the President to confirm the headteachers to Principal position.
Oyuu asked the the President the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) which is blamed for mass career stagnation.
Additionally President William Ruto promised to promote all Special Need Education (SNE) teachers by one grade.
Teachers working in special schools and units are now assured of promotion to next grade.
The issue of teacher promotions has been a hot potato as teachers witness their colleagues retiring from service without promotion.
In the August 2025 promotion advert TSC declared 21,313 vacancies for teachers from job group C1 to D4.
Through the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2025 – 2029 which TSC and teachers unions signed, the Commission had pledged to promote teachers across all cadres at a cost of Sh1 Billion this financial year.
According to the scoresheet it released to guide the promotion exercise, teachers will be promoted largely based on age, year of service in current grade and whether one has acted as school administrator.
In the scoresheet, the Commission has awarded upto 30 marks to teachers based on age.
Those aged 57 years and above will get 30 marks. Teachers aged 52 to 56 years will get 25 marks while those aged below 41 years have been awarded 10 marks.
However the Commission scoresheet has given less consideration to teachers academic and professional certificates .
TSC has awarded a maximum of 3 out of 100 marks to various academic and professional certificates held by teachers.
The Commission has awarded 3 marks to PhD holders, 2 marks to Masters holders, 1 mark to Degree holders and zero marks to those with Diplomas.
Year of service in current grade is also key in this years promotion.
Those who have served for at least seven years in same job group will be awarded 30 marks.
Six, five, four and three years will score 25, 20, 15 and 10 marks respectively according to the promotion scoresheet.
However a teacher must have served for at least three years in current job group for him to be considered except those in ASAL areas who will be promoted on affirmative action.
Click here to download TSC circular guide and scoresheet for promotion of teachers 2025-2026 (pdf)
Teachers who have served as administrators in acting capacity will be given big consideration if they produce evidence of acting.
Below is the scoresheet that TSC published in its 2025 – 2026 promotion guidelines and will be used in the upcoming promotion interviews.
1) ACADEMIC AND PROFFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
PhD – 3
Masters – 2
Degree – 1
Maximum 3 Marks
NOTE: Only one, highest qualification, to be awarded
2) TSC (TIMEC/CBC/CEMASTEA County trainers), KNEC (examiners/item developers), KICD (panelist/book evaluator)
Maximum 2 Marks
3) ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY AND LENGTH OF STAY IN CURRENT GRADE
i)Responsibility
(Marks awarded for performance of administrative duties – This shall apply to those who are performing duties of Head o Deputy Head Teacher OR had earlier acted as such through deployment by the Commission or BOM)
Maximum 25 Marks
| No. of years as administrator | Marks |
| 7 years and above | 25 |
| 6 Years | 22 |
| 5 Years | 18 |
| 4 Years | 14 |
| 3 Years | 10 |
| 2 Years | 6 |
| 6 months (Below 1 year) | 2 |
ii)Length of stay in current grade
(Marks awarded for length of stay in current grade)
Maximum 30 Marks
| No. of years in grade | Marks |
| 7 year and above | 30 |
| 6 years | 25 |
| 5 Years | 20 |
| 4 Years | 15 |
| 3 years | 10 |
| 2 Years | 5 |
| 6 months – 1 year | 3 |
4) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
TPAD Rating
(Marks awarded for the average Marks in the last 3 years)
Maximum 10 Marks
| Rating Scale | TPAD Marks | Marks |
| 5 | 81% and above | 10 |
| 4 | 61% – 80% | 8 |
| 3 | 41% – 60% | 6 |
| 2 | 21% – 40% | 4 |
| 1 | 1% – 20% | 2 |
5) AGE
Age of the teacher
Maximum 30 Marks
| Age of Teacher | Marks |
| 57 and above | 30 |
| 52 to 56 years | 25 |
| 47 to 51 years | 20 |
| 42 to 46 years | 15 |
| 41 years and below | 10 |
TOTAL MARKS 100
Click here to download TSC circular guide and scoresheet for promotion of teachers 2025-2026 (pdf)
LIST OF 21,313 DECLARED PROMOTION VACANCIES FOR TEACHERS
| S/ No. | Advert No. | Advert Name | TSC Scale | Grade | Posts |
| 1 | 3/2025 | Chief principal – Regular | D5 | 15 | 99 |
| 2 | 4/2025 | Chief principal – TTC | D5 | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | 5/2025 | Senior Principal – Regular | D4 | 14 | 490 |
| 4 | 6/2025 | Senior Principal – TTC | D4 | 14 | 6 |
| 5 | 7/2025 | Principal – Regular | D3 | 13 | 674 |
| 6 | 8/2025 | Principal – SNE | D3 | 12 | 2 |
| 7 | 9/2025 | Deputy Principal II – Regular | D2 | 12 | 971 |
| 8 | 10/2025 | Deputy Principal II – TTC | D2 | 12 | 15 |
| 9 | 11/2025 | Deputy Principal II – SNE | D2 | 12 | 4 |
| 10 | 12/2025 | Senior Lecturer I – TTC | D2 | 12 | 23 |
| 11 | 13/2025 | Senior Curriculum Support Officer | D2 | 12 | 19 |
| 12 | 14/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer I | D1 | 11 | 56 |
| 13 | 15/2025 | Deputy Principal III – Regular | D1 | 11 | 847 |
| 14 | 16/2025 | Senior Head Teacher – Regular | D1 | 11 | 1,400 |
| 15 | 17/2025 | Senior Head Teacher – SNE | D1 | 11 | 14 |
| 16 | 18/2025 | Senior Lecturer II – TTC | D1 | 11 | 44 |
| 17 | 19/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer II – Regular | C5 | 10 | 111 |
| 18 | 20/2025 | Curriculum Support Officer II – SNE | C5 | 10 | 134 |
| 19 | 21/2025 | Head-Teacher – Regular | C5 | 10 | 1,872 |
| 20 | 22/2025 | Senior Lecturer III – TTC | C5 | 10 | 43 |
| 21 | 23/2025 | Senior Master III – Regular | C5 | 10 | 737 |
| 22 | 24/2025 | Deputy Head-Teacher II – Regular | C4 | 9 | 3,547 |
| 23 | 25/2025 | Deputy Head-Teacher II – SNE | C4 | 9 | 19 |
| 24 | 26/2025 | Senior Lecturer IV – TTC | C4 | 9 | 59 |
| 25 | 27/2025 | Senior Master IV – Regular | C4 | 9 | 850 |
| 26 | 28/2025 | Senior Master IV – SNE | C4 | 9 | 3 |
| 27 | 29/2025 | Lecturer I – TTC | C3 | 8 | 18 |
| 28 | 30/2025 | Secondary Teacher I – (Diploma) Regular | C3 | 8 | 994 |
| 29 | 31/2025 | Senior Teacher I – Regular | C3 | 8 | 3,244 |
| 30 | 32/2025 | Senior Teacher I – SNE | C3 | 8 | 141 |
| 31 | 33/2025 | Senior Teacher II – Regular | C2 | 7 | 4,683 |
| 32 | 34/2025 | Senior Teacher II – SNE | C2 | 7 | 188 |
| TOTAL | 21,313 | ||||
LIST OF DOCUMENTS TEACHERS TO PRESENT DURING PROMOTION INTERVIEWS
Kindly note that the number of documents to present depends on nature of the promotion vacancy. Classroom teacher will have less documents compared to those seeking higher administrative positions.
1) Original Identity Card (ID)
2) Original academic certificates (KCSE, PTE, Diploma and Degree certificates)
3) Letter of appointment to current grade
4) Latest payslip
5) Last promotional letter
6) Letter assigning responsibility of HOI/DHOI
7) Performance appraisal reports (TPAD) for 2022, 2023, 2024
8) Any other testimonials
LIST OF DOCUMENTS TEACHER TO PRESENT AFTER SUCCESSFUL PROMOTION INTERVIEWS
1) Valid Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)
2) Clearance Certificate from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB)
3) Tax Compliance Certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)
4) Clearance from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)
5) A Clearance Certificate from an approved Credit Reference Bureau (CRB)