The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has begun releasing the results of the promotion interviews held in September 2026. The Board’s window for communicating results to successful candidates runs from Monday 9 November to Friday 20 November 2026. That means thousands of teachers should know whether they were successful by next Friday. The exercise began with one of the largest promotion adverts in recent years, covering 34,016 vacancies.
The interviews and the numbers
The interviews ran in two batches. Primary school teachers were interviewed over six days, from 8 to 15 September 2026. Field directors conducted them at regional and county levels, which kept candidates close to their home stations.
Interviews for post-primary teachers (secondary schools and Teachers Training Colleges, or TTCs) ran for seven days, from 17 to 25 September 2026. They also covered Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs).
TSC’s figures show about 126,000 applications, from which 78,732 teachers were shortlisted for interview. That is far more candidates than posts: 78,732 shortlisted against 34,016 vacancies.
34,016 vacancies and a KSh 2 billion budget
TSC advertised 34,016 promotion vacancies for job groups C2 to D4, backed by KSh 2 billion in the 2026/2027 financial year. The posts cover 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 are in TSC Circular No. 13/2026, dated 24 July 2026, and remain in force until 30 June 2027. For more on the grades involved, see the primary teacher titles from T-Scale 5 to 11 and our guide to preparing a promotion application.
Why 1,631 slots were readvertised
Not every vacancy drew enough qualified applicants. After the main advert, TSC readvertised 1,631 promotion slots because too few teachers had applied.
TSC attributes the shortfall to a requirement in the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) that teachers must have served at least three years in their current grade before applying. Many capable teachers fell short by months. TSC revised the rule and lowered the requirement to two years. The change also followed pressure from P1 teachers deployed to junior schools, who were barred from applying by the same condition. Junior school teachers stuck at job group C3 were among those affected.
| Advert | Post | Grade | Vacancies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108/2026 | Deputy Principal III (Regular) | D1, T-Scale 11 | 132 |
| 109/2026 | Senior Master I | D1, T-Scale 11 | 29 |
| 110/2026 | Deputy Headteacher II (Regular) | C4, T-Scale 9 | 1,470 |
| Total | 1,631 |
Deputy Headteacher II accounts for most of the readvertised slots. That points to a shortage of qualified applicants for deputy headship in primary schools, where the three-year rule was likely to have bitten hardest.
The roadmap behind the results
The results move through several layers of approval before reaching candidates:
- TSC Director of Staffing Dr Samwel Marigat presents the interview results and reports to the Commission Secretary, currently Acting CEO Evaleen Mitei, on Monday 26 October 2026.
- He presents the same to the Field Services Committee (FSC) on Monday 2 November 2026.
- The FSC presents the results to the TSC Board. The Board communicates results to successful candidates in a ten-day window, from Monday 9 November to Friday 20 November 2026.
How you will know your status
The Board gives final approval to the list of successful candidates before it is published on the TSC website. TSC publishes only TSC numbers, not names, so have yours ready.
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 shown by interview scores. TSC also takes into account constitutional requirements on gender representation, regional diversity and the 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 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
- Read your promotion letter carefully. It confirms the terms of the appointment, the reporting period and other instructions. Reporting dates are not uniform.
- 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. Do not wait for further communication before responding.
- Prepare for deployment. Promotion does not automatically mean staying at your current school. Heads and deputy heads are posted to institutions where vacancies exist. In earlier exercises, heads and their deputies were often posted outside their sub-counties, while teachers promoted to senior master and senior teacher were often redeployed within their sub-counties. The circular sets no absolute rule either way. Each posting depends on the vacancy and TSC’s staffing needs.
- Check your records. TSC retains 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
Successful candidates are to be deployed and begin their new appointments from January 2027, within the 2026/2027 financial year that ends in June 2027. The circular does not expressly guarantee that every promoted teacher will be posted in January. Timing depends on completing approvals, the availability of vacancies and the issuing of individual letters. TSC has set 27 January 2027 as the deadline for management to submit an exit report on the exercise to the TSC Board.
Beware of fraud
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. Report suspected fraud to the Director of Staffing, the Deputy Director of Staffing, the nearest TSC office, TSC headquarters or a police station. The warning matters now, when anxious candidates may be targeted by conmen claiming inside access to the lists.
The systems behind the process
The 2026/2027 guidelines point towards greater automation. TSC plans to integrate its Teachers Online Services portal, Teacher Promotion Module, Teacher Management Information System and Human Resource Management Information System with the Posting/Entry/Exit Module, the 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.
What to do now
- Watch TSC’s official announcements and its website for the published lists.
- Keep your TSC number ready to check your status.
- Check your Teachers Online Services account and any message from your county or sub-county office.
- Do not pay anyone for information or favours.
- If you are successful, read the promotion letter immediately and accept within 30 days.
For those who miss out, the revised two-year rule and TSC’s annual promotion cycles point to further opportunities. See also how the new career pathways could change progression.