CBC Grading in Kenya: A Practical Guide for Headteachers in 2026

For four decades, Kenyan headteachers ran on one number: the mean grade. Under 8-4-4, the school year ended in a ranked list, and that list told parents, the BoM and the TSC what kind of school you were. Under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), that single number is gone — and replaced with something more honest, more useful, and more difficult to administer.

2026 is the first year a fully CBC-trained cohort sits in Grade 10. The 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) covered 1,130,459 Grade 9 learners, the largest cohort ever placed using competency-based criteria (The Kenya Times, 2025). If you run a school, the grading questions parents are now asking you cannot be deflected with old 8-4-4 vocabulary. This post is the working briefing you need.

The four-band rubric, and why it matters

CBC assessment is criterion-referenced. A learner is graded against a published descriptor of competency, not against the rest of the class. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) use four performance bands (KNEC, 2021):

• Exceeding Expectations (EE) — the learner correctly performs all expected activities in a learning area.
• Meeting Expectations (ME) — the learner follows instructions and properly performs and completes most activities.
• Approaching Expectations (AE) — the learner attempts the work but is inconsistent in completing tasks.
• Below Expectations (BE) — the learner shows major inaccuracies or is unable to complete tasks.

That four-band public framing remains. What changed in 2025 is the resolution underneath it.

The new eight-point scale (introduced for KJSEA 2025)

KNEC now splits each of the four bands into two sub-levels, producing an eight-point achievement scale that ranges from EE1 (top) to BE2 (bottom) (Tuko, 2025):

1. EE1 — 90–100% (Achievement Level 8, exceptional)
2. EE2 — 75–89% (Achievement Level 7, very good)
3. ME1 — 58–74% (Achievement Level 6, good)
4. ME2 — 41–57% (Achievement Level 5, fair)
5. AE1 — 31–40% (Achievement Level 4, needs improvement)
6. AE2 — 21–30% (Achievement Level 3, below average)
7. BE1 — 11–20% (Achievement Level 2, well below average)
8. BE2 — 1–10% (Achievement Level 1, minimal)

Two practical consequences. First: a learner now gets a per-subject achievement level, not an aggregate score. There is deliberately no equivalent of the old KCPE mean. Second: the bottom of the scale is one point, not zero. Every learner who sits the assessment is recognised.

The single biggest mistake I see headteachers make in 2026 is computing an internal "mean grade" out of the eight-point scale. KNEC explicitly does not do this. If your school report cards still average across subjects, you are working against the design of the system.

How this differs from 8-4-4

The 8-4-4 system, introduced in 1985, dominated for nearly four decades before being phased out by CBC from 2017 (Wikipedia, 2025). The final 8-4-4 KCSE cohort is scheduled to sit in 2027 (Dreams Hill School, 2026). The differences worth internalising:

• Structure: 8-4-4 was 8 years primary, 4 secondary, 4 university. CBC is 2-6-3-3-3 — 2 pre-primary, 6 primary, 3 junior school, 3 senior school, 3 university minimum.
• Assessment philosophy: 8-4-4 was norm-referenced and exam-driven. CBC is criterion-referenced and portfolio-driven, with a deliberate move away from the "exam-passing culture" (Infotrack, 2025).
• What counts as evidence: under 8-4-4, the end-of-year exam was 100% of the picture. Under CBC, school-based assessment, projects, observations and portfolios all count.

The three national assessment moments

National summative assessment now happens at three points, each with a specific function (KNEC, 2021):

1. KPSEA — end of Grade 6

The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment is sat at the end of Upper Primary. In 2024, 1,303,913 Grade 6 pupils sat KPSEA across six learning areas: Mathematics, English, Kiswahili, Science, Social Studies and Creative Arts (The Standard, 2025). KPSEA is not a placement exam in the old KCPE sense. It contributes 20% to the eventual KJSEA grade three years later.

2. KJSEA — end of Grade 9

The Kenya Junior School Education Assessment closes out Junior School. The weighting that matters most for headteachers is the blended score: 20% from KPSEA, 20% from Grade 7 and 8 school-based assessment, and 60% from the KJSEA itself (The Kenya Times, 2025). That 20% SBA contribution is the lever most schools under-invest in. If your Grade 7 and 8 SBA portfolios are weak, you have permanently capped your learners before they enter the KJSEA hall.

3. KCSE (legacy) and the new Senior School assessment

KCSE continues to operate for the final 8-4-4 cohort. The 2024 KCSE registered a record 965,501 candidates, with 11.37% achieving the university qualifying grade of C+ and above (KNEC, 2025). For the CBC cohort, Grade 12 will sit a Kenya Senior School Education Assessment from 2028 onwards.

Senior School pathways and what they mean for Grade 9 teachers

From January 2026, learners enter one of three Senior School pathways (Eastleigh Voice, 2025):

• STEM — Sciences, mathematics, engineering, computer science, agriculture.
• Social Sciences — Languages, humanities, business studies, religious education.
• Arts and Sports Science — Music, theatre, visual arts, sports science.

Each learner takes seven examinable subjects: four compulsory cores (English, Kiswahili or KSL, Mathematics, Community Service Learning) plus three pathway electives. Schools are classified as Triple Pathway (offering all three) or Dual Pathway. National schools are required to offer all three pathways from 2026 (Eastleigh Voice, 2025).

For a Grade 9 class teacher, this means career counselling is no longer optional. The pathway choice a learner makes by the end of Grade 9 closes more doors than KCSE subject selection ever did.

What this means for how you run assessment

Five concrete shifts every headteacher should have already made, or should make this term:

1. Stop ranking and start describing. Internal report cards should report a per-subject achievement level with a brief competency comment. No position, no class mean.
2. Invest in SBA portfolios from Grade 4. School-based assessment runs from Grade 4 to Grade 12 (KICD, 2017). Build the portfolio habit early; do not start in Grade 7.
3. Train against rubrics, not against past papers. A KICD-aligned rubric only works if teachers can read and apply it consistently. KICD research found that 40–50% of teachers reported feeling unprepared on CBC pedagogy and around 67% had received no ICT training as of 2018 (ERIC / KICD, 2022). Budget for in-school coaching, not just one-day workshops.
4. Adopt the 2024 rationalised designs. KICD reduced Junior School to nine subjects maximum and cut Junior School from 40 to 35 lessons a week — a 13% reduction (CBC App, 2024). If your timetable still runs the 2023 design, you are over-loading both staff and learners.
5. Brief parents in writing. Parents who went through 8-4-4 will read "ME1" as a failure unless you explicitly translate it. Send a one-page guide home with the first report card of each term.

The honest verdict

CBC grading is more accurate than 8-4-4 was. It is also more demanding administratively, and it punishes schools that try to bolt it onto the old machinery. The schools that are quietly thriving under CBC in 2026 are the ones that rebuilt their assessment calendar from scratch — and put a headteacher's signature on every SBA portfolio audit.

The grading system is not the problem. The problem is running a CBC school with an 8-4-4 mindset. Fix that, and the rubric does the rest.

References

• CBC App (2024). A simple analysis of the numbers behind the 2024 rationalisation of the CBC. cbcapp.co.ke
• Dreams Hill School (2026). 8-4-4 vs. CBC/CBE: Comparing Kenya's Education Systems in 2026. dreamshillschool.sc.ke
• Eastleigh Voice (2025). National schools to offer all three CBC career pathways starting 2026. eastleighvoice.co.ke
• Eastleigh Voice (2025). Inside CBC senior school: What awaits Kenya's first Grade 10 learners in 2026. eastleighvoice.co.ke
• ERIC / KICD (2022). Implementing Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) in Kenya. files.eric.ed.gov
• Infotrack (2025). CBC vs 8-4-4 System in Kenya. infotrack.co.ke
• KICD (2017). Basic Education Curriculum Framework. kicd.ac.ke
• KNEC (2021). Understanding the Competency-Based Assessment (CBA). knec.ac.ke
• KNEC (2021). Competency Based Assessment Framework (Age-Based Regular). knec.ac.ke
• KNEC (2025). 2024 KCSE Examination Essential Statistics. knec.ac.ke
• The Kenya Times (2025). How the KJSEA 2025 grading system and placement criteria work. thekenyatimes.com
• The Standard (2025). KNEC releases 2024 KPSEA results for over 1.3 million learners. standardmedia.co.ke
• Tuko (2025). "8 levels": How 2025 KJSEA results were graded. tuko.co.ke

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