Nearly 9,000 students who qualified for university admission in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations did not apply for placement to universities but instead opted to pursue diploma and certificate programmes.
The number has risen from the 7,640 students who chose not to pursue degree courses last year despite having qualified for the studies. It indicates a growing preference for courses offered by technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
This was announced om Wednesday when the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) announced the placement 293,869 students to universities and tertiary institutions for the 2026/2027 academic year. The placement results were officially released by the Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Ogamba.
The data also shows that 51,835 candidates (19.3 percent) who qualified for admission did not apply.
“We recognise that some eligible students did not apply for placement because they may have opted to seek alternative pathways to higher education and training, for example, the disciplined forces, overseas training or self-sponsorship programmes in universities and colleges,” Mr Ogamba said.
The CS added that some students may have missed the opportunity to apply because of other circumstances.
“I have directed the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service to immediately devise a mechanism to allow late applications for placement. In the same vein, I call upon all eligible candidates who may have missed the just concluded application cycle, to take advantage of this opportunity,” Mr Ogamba said.
Of the total number, 202,133 students have been placed in degree programmes, 28,246 for courses at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), 500 in the Diploma in Law (Paralegal Studies) programme at Kenya School of Law, 765 at the Kenya Utalii College and 875 in secondary teacher training colleges.
Mr Ogamba said the government had expanded opportunities for higher education through increased institutional capacity and the establishment of new public universities and specialised degree-awarding institutions.
The Commission for University Education had approved 327,157 vacancies in 43 public and 33 private universities for the 2026/2027 placement cycle, in addition to about one million training slots available in public TVET institutions.
The Cabinet Secretary said the government had also integrated specialised institutions into the central placement system, with KUCCPS placing students to the Kenya Utalii College for the first time alongside the Kenya Medical Training College, the Kenya School of Law and the Morendat Institute of Oil and Gas National Polytechnic.
Mr Ogamba further announced that the university transfer window would be extended from two weeks to one month, allowing placed students more time to transfer between universities or programmes before admission.
“As part of career alignment, I know that some students who have been placed today may, wish to transfer from one university to another. In order to allow adequate time and opportunity for such transfers, this year, we will be extending the transfer window from a period of two weeks to one month,” said Mr Ogamba.
The CEO of KUCCPS Dr Mercy Wahome explained that programme cut-off points are not pre-determined but are set by competition among applicants. Candidates are ranked according to their cluster weight, which is derived from their performance in the subjects required for their chosen course, and are admitted until the available capacity is filled.
The last student admitted determines the cut-off point for that programme in a particular university. Using medicine as an example, the agency noted that although there were only 702 available slots across public and private universities for the 2026–2027 placement cycle, and about 6,500 students applied, including 1,535 candidates who scored an A and 3,328 who attained an A- in the 2025 KCSE examination.
“Admission was therefore determined by candidates’ cluster weights, calculated from their performance in mathematics, chemistry, biology and a language subject, with those attaining the highest scores securing the limited places,” she explained.
Dr Wahome revealed that application rates were highest among the top-performing candidates and declined progressively across the grades. Of the 1,931 candidates who scored an A, 1,860 (96.3 per cent) applied for university placement.
Among those with an A-, 8,667 out of 9,259 candidates (93.6 per cent) submitted applications, while 20,911 of the 23,748 B+ candidates (88.1 per cent) applied.
The trend continued with 42,029 of the 49,805 B candidates (84.4 per cent), 65,410 of the 80,128 B- candidates (81.6 per cent) and 78,017 of the 103,858 C+ candidates (75.1 per cent) applying for degree placement, indicating that the likelihood of seeking university admission declined as grades fell, despite all candidates with C+ and above being eligible.
She added that some students opted to join private universities directly instead of applying through the placement system.
According to KUCCPS, education-related programmes remained the most popular, attracting about 40 per cent of applicants, while medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and nursing continued to receive the highest number of applications relative to the available slots.
“About 3,000 students applied to universities but did not get the institutions they had chosen. KUCCPS offered them alternative placements, but they declined those options. In total, 17,000 students were placed in private universities,” Dr Wahome said.
An analysis of the 2025 KCSE subject performance showed that technical and vocational subjects recorded the strongest results, reinforcing expectations of increased demand for skills-based programmes under the competency-based education (CBE).
Aviation Technology posted the highest performance, with 95 per cent of candidates attaining a C+ and above, followed by Drawing and Design (93 per cent), Electricity (90 per cent), Woodwork (89 per cent), Building Construction (85 per cent) and **Power Mechanics (84 per cent).
However, performance in key science subjects remained low, with only 13 per cent of Chemistry candidates attaining a C+ and above, 17 per cent in Biology and 19 per cent in Mathematics Option A.
Officials said the disparity raises concerns over whether universities have sufficient programmes that recognise the well-performing technical subjects, while at the same time highlighting the limited pool of students eligible for science-based degree courses such as medicine and engineering.
