Screengrab of a KJSEA candidate's results.
Thousands of parents, learners and teachers across the country were thrown into confusion when the Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Ogamba announced the release of the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results. Many were in the dark asking whether their children had passed, and struggle to interpret the grading as well as anticipate the senior schools they will be placed in, as well as the academic/career pathways they will pursue.
The results are in a new format unfamiliar to many which is qualitative as well as quantitative. Rather than a simple grade or marks, the KJSEA results describe the abilities of the learners.
According to CEO of the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) Dr David Njeng’ere, the new way of reporting achievement of learners is in tandem with global best practices.
The grading system has four bands where learners’ performance in each subject are placed: (Exceeding Expectations (EE), Meeting Expectations (ME), Approaching Expectations (AP) and Below Expectation (BE).
The four bands have each been split into two to form an 8-point scale: EE1 and EE2, ME1 and ME2, AE1 and AE2 and finally ME2, AE1 and AE2 and BE2.
Those scoring between 75 and 100 percent fall under Exceeding Expectations (EE). EE1 is for marks ranging between 90 and 100 percent and earns a candidate 8 points while EE2 is for marks ranging from 75 to 89 percent, and a score of 7 points.
Under the Meeting Expectations band will fall marks ranging between 41 and 74 percent. Candidates with 58-74 percent are in ME1 and earn 6 points, while those with 41-57 percent are in ME2 and receive 5 points.
Candidates classified as Approaching Expectations will fall within a scoring of 21 to 40 percent. Within this band, AE1 is for marks ranging between 31 and 40 percent. It earns 4 points while marks between 21 and 30 percent are in AE2 and earn 3 points.
Lowest band
The lowest band is Below Expectations, for candidates who score below 20 percent. A score of between 11 and 20 is under BE1 and earns a candidate two points while 10 percent and below is put under BE2 and gets a candidate one point.
Candidates were examined in nine subjects (English, Mathematics, Agriculture & Nutrition, Kiswahili/Kenya Sign Language, Integrated Science, Pre-technical studies, Creative Arts & Sports, Social Studies, Religious Education.
Therefore, using this scoring matrix, the maximum points a candidate can score in 72.
Find more of our KJSEA coverage below:
