KCSE 2023: Over 494k Candidates Scored D+ And Below, CS Machogu Announces

• Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said there was a decline in performance in the KCSE examination
• Of the 895,533 candidates who received their results, a total of 125,006 candidates scored a mean grade of D+
• The CS ordered investigations into why over 48,000 candidates managed grade E despite the flexible grading system

Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Eldoret - Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has officially announced the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination result.

What Ezekiel Machogu said about low grades

On Monday, January 8, Machogu released a detailed analysis of candidates' performance in the 2023 exams.

From the information provided by the CS, 201,133 candidates attained the minimum university entry grade.

"The number of candidates who attained the minimum university entry qualification (Grade C+ and above) was 201,133 (22.27%) in the year 2023 KCSE Examination compared to 173,345 (19.62%) in the year 2022. This is as a result of the application of new grading system," Machogu announced.

Of the 895,533 candidates who received their results, 494,317 scored a mean grade of D+ or below, constituting 54.72%.

From the statistics, 125,006 candidates scored a mean grade of D+, 155,276 got a grade of D plain, and 165,861 candidates scored D-

The CS expressed his disappointment after 48,174 candidates, which equates to 5.33% scoring grade E.

"I am pained by the fact that a large number of candidates (48,174 or 5.33%) still ended up scoring a mean grade of E in the 2023 KCSE Examination even after the Ministry used a more flexible system of computing the final overall candidate results," the CS said.

How many candidates scored straight As

Meanwhile, the CS announced that a total of 1,216 candidates out of 895,533 scored a mean grade of A.

"There were 1,216 (0.14%) candidates who obtained an overall grade of A in the 2023 KCSE Examination compared to 1,146 (0.13%) candidates in the year 2022," Machogu said.

Of those who scored As, 889 were from national schools, while 172 were from extra-county schools.

Private schools produced 143 As, with county and sub-county schools producing 5 and 7 As, respectively.

A total of 18,078 students attained a mean grade of B+, with 10,370 males and 7,708 females. For B plain, there are 36,728 candidates, while a total of 59,514 scored B- and 78,343 scored C+.