Live update: Senators discuss governors snubbing summons
Premium
Senior School placement: Ministry opens second review window on Tuesday
The Ministry of Education will on Tuesday open a second review window for Grade 10 Senior School placements, following concerns from learners and parents over the initial results. The move comes as students prepare to join senior schools on January 12, 2026, and aims to address complaints over assignments to schools far from home.
The announcement comes just days after the release of the senior school placement results, which triggered widespread anxiety and frustration among parents and learners.
Many expressed dissatisfaction after being placed in day schools located hundreds of kilometres from their homes. Parents argued that the Ministry’s directive requiring candidates to select at least four day schools during the application process was impractical, particularly for learners in rural and marginalised areas where options are limited.
For the 1.13 million graduates of the inaugural Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA), the release of results marked the end of a grueling 24-hour marathon of digital anxiety and technical glitches. Parents and learners struggled with the online portal as they tried to access results, highlighting challenges in the country’s first fully digital placement system.
According to the Ministry, requests for a second review can be submitted either through the learner’s junior school or the senior school of interest.
Applications must be submitted by the Head of Institution via the official placement portal. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba explained that the window for the review will run from January 6 to January 9, 2026.
This means that parents are allowed to seek admission for the grade learners at the senior school of their choice.
“As earlier indicated, interested learners will have a further opportunity to apply for review of their placement from January 6 to January 9, 2026. This revision will provide parents, guardians, and learners the opportunity to provide legitimate and verifiable grounds to justify a reconsideration of the initial or revised placement,” Mr Ogamba said.
The revision period, which officially kicked off on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, is intended to address mounting public outcry over the automated placement of the inaugural 1.13 million Grade 9 learners.
The first placement review, conducted in December 2025, received 355,457 applications, of which 211,636 were approved. Officials say that 88 percent of learners have now been placed according to their original or revised
selections, with 51 percent in STEM, 38 percent in Social Sciences, and 11 percent in Arts & Sports Science pathways.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
