KNEC Four-Year KPSEA Data Identifies Kiswahili as Best-Performing Subject Under CBC

KNEC Four-Year KPSEA Data Identifies Kiswahili as Best-Performing Subject Under CBC.

Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has published statistics showing that Kiswahili was the most performing subject in Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA), in terms of the percentage of learners who have performed above expectations in the assessed subjects.

KPSEA is administered at Grade 6 as a part of Competency-Based Education (CBE) and since its introduction throughout the country in 2022, the number of candidates has steadily increased.

The data provided by KNEC indicates that the number of candidates increased to 1.24 million in 2023, 1.31 million in 2024, and 1.26 million in 2025 compared to the population of 1.18 million in 2022. The assessment was initially tested to the first Grade 6 group in 2022, since then graduated to senior school, Grade 10.

The four-year data set is an indicator of the growth of the primary school population, which is based on Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). The highest level of candidate enrolment occurred in 2024 and then slightly declined in 2025.

The data has been disaggregated by gender whereby the number of male candidates has always been higher than that of a female candidate in all the four years of assessment. In 2022, male learners 613,334 were on KPSEA test versus 575,516 female learners.

In 2023 the highest number of male candidates (638,186) was compared to female candidates (607,396). Male candidates had grown to 677,014 in 2024 with female candidates at 637,167. The number of male learners who took the assessment amounted to 646,610 in 2025, and that of female learners was 619,911.

According to county-level data on KPSEA schools as of 2025, Nairobi County had the most participating schools between public and private with 1,965, and secondly, Kitui with 1,486.

The County of machakos registered 1209 schools, Nakuru County 1186, Kakamega County 1149, Homa bay County 1109, and Kiambu County 1103.

Isiolo County had the most number of KPSEA schools with 150 schools, followed by Lamu County with 124 schools, Samburu County with 189 schools, Tana River County with 207 schools, Marsabit County with 220 schools, Taita Taveta County with 257 schools, Kirinyaga County with 309 schools and Laikipia County with 358 schools.

The 2025 distribution of learners in KPSEA between the counties illustrates that Lamu County had the lowest number of 4,369 candidates, Isiola County had 4,919, Samburu County had 6,047, Tana River County had 8,031, Marsabit County had 8,367, and Wajir County had 8,541 candidates.

According to the subject performance data released by KNEC, Kiswahili had the highest number of candidates who performed above expectations with 407,921 candidates, which is 32.2 per cent of the number of candidates who were assessed.

The next one was Agriculture with 373,148 learners above expectations, which is 29 per cent. Physical and Health Education registered 325,510 learners who have surpassed expectations, which is 25.82 per cent and Home Science registered 329,479 learners, which is 26 per cent.

Mathematics was the course with the highest number of learners below expectation with 473, 983 candidates, which is a percentage of 37. Social Studies had 454,952 learners below expectations which is 36 per cent whereas English Language had 448,973 learners below expectations which is 35.5 per cent. Science and Technology had 443 313 learners whose scores were below the expectations.

Analysis of performance by gender depicts that female students were under-represented in the under-performance group in majority of the subjects. The outcome of the high level of achievement between male and females learners was documented as similar and male learners were higher in the lower performance groups.

KPSEA is held in Grade 6 when the learners are about to start a junior secondary school. KNEC has suggested that the KPSEA results are not applicable in the placement to junior secondary school, but rather the outcome is expected to measure the progress of the learners. Five subjects are examined among learners, as Mathematics, English, Integrated Science, and Kiswahili.

The National parents Association chairperson, Mr Silas Obuhatsa, indicated that parent awareness on the Competency-Based Education system is also important.

Mr Obuhatsa said that there should be awareness creation among the parents to be aware of the new grading system of CBE. The National Parents Association urged the Ministry of Education to empower parents, engage and provide information to parents about KPSEA and Competency- Based Curriculum.

According to KNEC Executive Officer Dr David Njengere parents and schools should use KPSEA results to monitor progress of learners within the Competency-Based Education framework.

KNEC Four-Year KPSEA Data Identifies Kiswahili as Best-Performing Subject Under CBC.