A private school in Kajiado County that packages itself as a boy child empowerment hub is claiming the bragging rights in the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations after posting the highest mean score in the tabulations the Nation has done so far.
Merishaw School, whose name is derived from the Maa term for “conqueror”, posted a mean score of 10.569, conquering national schools that have traditionally topped the charts.
Data provided by the institution showed that it presented 51 candidates. Of these, seven scored straight A mean grades. There were 23A-, 16B+, 3B, while B- and C+ were one apiece.
As per the 2024 fee structure on the institution’s website, the lowest fee per term for a boy in its secondary school section is Sh155,600 (Form One). In Form Four, the annual fees is Sh494,400. This is about six times the annual fees paid at a typical national school.
Videos captured at the institution on Thursday showed students and teachers singing “amenitendea (he has done it for me)” with the school’s buildings in the backdrop.
By representing Kajiado County, Merishaw set a trend whereby schools in metropolitan counties dominated the top schools list. Nairobi and Kiambu counties occupied all but two positions among the top 10.
Save for Kajiado County (through Merishaw), and Nandi (through Kapsabet Boys), the top 10 schools as per the data we had gathered by Friday evening were from either Nairobi or Kiambu.
Next after Merishaw is Alliance High School in Kiambu County that posted a mean score of 10.31. At third place, after Alliance, is Kapsabet Boys in Nandi County with a mean score of 10.145.
Sitting fourth is the Kenya High School in Nairobi whose scores averaged 10.131. Closing the top five list is Starehe Boys, also in Nairobi, with a mean of 10.112.
The top five list also shows that, except for Merishaw, national schools were at the apex of the KCSE 2024 performance.
Compared with the list of top schools that Nation tabulated for the 2023 KCSE, only Kapsabet Boys has retained a spot in the top five. It was third in 2023 and also third in 2024 as per the results obtained so far.
Last year’s top five were: Kabarak High School (10.43); Mudasa Academy (10.4); Kapsabet Boys (10.2); Light Academy Mombasa (10.2); and Strathmore School (10.08).
Mudasa Academy’s performance in 2023, continued by Merishaw in 2024, means that for two consecutive years, a private school has featured among the five best nationally.
Alliance Girls Chief Principal Jeddah Mwangi joins her students in celebrating the school's good performance after the 2024 KCSE results were announced.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
From fifth to tenth in the 2024 top schools are Strathmore School in Nairobi (10.087); Maryhill Girls High School in Kiambu (10.051); Alliance Girls High School in Kiambu (10.038); Mangu High School in Kiambu (10.011); and Light Academy, Nairobi (10) respectively.
At position 11 is Moi High School Kabarak from Nakuru (9.890); followed by Friends School Kamusinga in Bungoma (9.886); then Pangani Girls in Nairobi (9.841) while at 14th lies Moi Girls Eldoret from Uasin Gishu County (9.765). Closing the top 15 is Maseno School in Kisumu (9.73).
Nyaribari Michelle Kwamboka who attained A Plain (82 points) and Linda Jerop A- (minus 74 points) are carried shoulder high by teachers and students at Moi High School Kabarak following the release of the 2024 KCSE results on January 9, 2025
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
The last five to complete the top 20 are Murang’a High School (9.72); St Brigid's Girls High School in Trans Nzoia (9.72); Maranda High School in Siaya County (9.698); Kiage Tumaini High School in Kisii (9.68) and Kabianga School in Kericho County (9.647) in that order.
The 2024 examinations broke numerous records: highest number of qualifiers for university admission in eight years; highest number of Es in five years; and for the first time in history, more girls than boys sat KCSE. Of the 962,512 candidates who sat the 2024 KCSE examination, 480,310 were male, while 482,202 were female, representing 49.90 and 50.10 percent of the total candidature respectively.
Kagumo High School Chief Principal Silas Mwirigi leads his students in jubilation on January 9, 2025, after his school posted a mean score of 9.543 in the 2024 KCSE.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
A total of 246,391 students, an increase from 201,133 in 2023, scored a mean grade of C+ and above, the highest since the 2016 reforms instituted by then Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Knec chairman George Magoha — who later became Cabinet Secretary.
Some 2,660 candidates registered for but did not sit the examination. At the same time, candidates posted improved performance in 17 out of the 30 subjects tested.
Schools that have traditionally been academic powerhouses in their regions maintained the trend of good results, according to an analysis done by Nation.
Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls Chief Principal, Jane Kimiti, leads her students and teachers in celebrating the schools good performance in the 2024 KCSE results on January 9, 2025.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
At the Coast, Sheikh Khalifa (9.13) was in the top 40; and Light Academy Mombasa (9) was among the top 50 in our tabulations. Also in the top 50 list was Kenyatta High School Mwatate (8.959).
In Nyanza, Maseno, Maranda and Kiage Tumaini led the way, even as Kanga High School in Migori (9.3) and Orero High School (9.29) sat among the top 30 nationally.
Students of Light Academy in Nairobi celebrate the school's good performance after the announcement of the 2024 KCSE results on January 9, 2025.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
In Western, Friends School Kamusinga and St Brigid’s Girls Kiminini led the way, while St Joseph’s Kitale (9.014) was among the top 50 nationally. St Anthony’s Boys Kitale (8.9) was among the best 60.
In Eastern, Kitui School (9.52) and Makueni Boys High School (8.816) were among the cream.
In the Rift Valley region, Kapsabet Boys blazed the trail, followed by Moi High School Kabarak and Moi Girls Eldoret. Other toppers were Kabianga School in Kericho (9.647) and Anestar Boys High School in Nakuru (9.54).
