This archive report was first published on 20 December 2019.
Kenya's top national schools are not immune to poor KCSE grades. In 2019, a total of 6,041 students in these schools performed poorly, with 338 scoring an E grade, 856 getting a D-, 988 scoring a D, 1,442 achieving a D+, and 2,417 managing a C-.
These numbers are part of the 504,415 students who scored between E and C- in all categories of schools nationally. Out of these, 29,318 students scored an E grade.
According to the KCSE 2019 results, the assumption that getting into a National school is a direct ticket to a Grade A and the University has been debunked.
While some schools have regained their crowns, others have failed to attain their former fame and top KCSE grades. These include Maranda High School, Starehe Boys Centre, Lenana School, Moi Forces Boys, Mangu Girls, and Pangani Girls, among others.
Despite this, the number of candidates with a minimum university entry qualification of mean grade C plus and above in 2019 is 125,746 (18.02 per cent), compared with 90,377 in the 2018 KCSE examination - a difference of 35,369.
Girls performed better than boys in eight subjects, including English, Kiswahili, CRE, Home Science, Art and Design, German, and Kenya Sign Language. English, Kiswahili, chemistry, biology, and physics are among the critical subjects where performance shot up in 2019 compared with 2018.
