The Kenya School of Law Academics Complex, Nairobi.
Parliament has commenced a new push to amend the punitive Kenya School of Law (KSL) admission requirements, offering relief to some 10,000 disadvantaged law graduates.
The latest development follows continued non-admission of law graduates by KSL to the postgraduate diploma programme for failing to score at least B plain in English or Kiswahili languages in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.
The move comes in the form of the Kenya School of Law (Amendment) Bill, 2025 – a proposed legislation that seeks to have KSL adopt admission requirements set out by the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
The Bill sponsored by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino instead wants the KSL to use the CLE requirement, which puts the minimum grade at C+ (plus) in the English language.
Currently awaiting first reading before the National Assembly, the Bill – published on July 23, 2025 – seeks to amend Section 16 of the KSL Act, the principal act, by deleting the requirement as set out in the Second Schedule and substituting it with what the Council for Legal Education Act prescribes.
Section 16 of the KSL Act, 2012, as read with paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule, the requirements for admission to the ATP is that one must have attained a grade B (plain) in English Language or Kiswahili and a mean grade of C (plus) in the KCSE or its equivalent.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino addresses journalists in Kileleshwa, Nairobi on June 26, 2024.
Further, one must have taken and passed the mandatory 16 core subjects, at LLB, as stipulated in the Second Schedule of the Legal Education Act, 2012, as well as hold or be eligible for conferment of a law degree from a recognised university.
This is in addition to having sat and passed the Pre-Bar Examination as provided under the Second Schedule to the Kenya School of Law Act, 2012, part 1 (b) (iii) for foreign degree holders.
For its part, CAP 16 (c) of the CLE Act relaxes the requirements to having a Bachelor of Laws degree from a recognised university and a minimum grade of C+ (C plus) in English and an aggregate grade of C (plain) in the KCSE, holds a higher qualification, for instance, “A” levels, “IB”, relevant “Diploma”, other “undergraduate degree” or has attained a higher degree in Law after the undergraduate studies in the Bachelor of Laws Programme.
Sub-section (d) adds that person shall be eligible for the programme if they have a Bachelor of Laws degree from recognised university and attained a minimum grade of C- (C minus) in English and a minimum of an aggregate grade of C- (C minus) in the KCSE, sits and passes the pre-Bar examination set by the CLE as a pre-condition for admission.
MP Owino said the objective of the Bill is to amend the KSL Act (Cap 16C) to confer upon the CLE the power to prescribe admission requirements to courses of study at the KSL.
He pointed out that the amendment will require persons to only meet the admission requirements prescribed by the CLE as the requirement by KSL has left over 10,000 law graduates stranded and unable to practice law since 2015 without the prerequisite of a diploma from KSL. KSL is the body currently doing the admissions.
“The Bill seeks to lift that requirement to put in place that as long as you have a degree certificate, you will be admitted. CLE will be the one responsible for admission because they are the ones offering examinations,” said Mr Owino.
Academic progression
The MP added that the KSL does allow for academic progression, where if one started out from a diploma to a degree but did not attain the prescribed grade in any of the two languages, then they cannot be admitted to KSL even if they scored a first class.
“That requirement is wasting people. The university admits you but then if you get to KSL they say you cannot be admitted because you have not scored a B (plain) and above in either English or Kiswahili even if you scored an A plain overall or a first class,” said the second term MP.
“So if you had a dream of being an advocate, then you have no path to achieving that you can just be a court clerk. The CLE Act allowed for career progression unlike the KSL Act,” he added.
The legislator criticised the KSL for discriminating against the students over their performance in Kiswahili and English despite having excelled in other subjects, pointing out that the requirements set by the KSL are contradictory to other laws governing legal education in Kenya.
The National Assembly during a past session.
He pointed out that CLE Act states that if there is any conflict between the two laws, the CLE Act takes precedence but the KSL still declines to admit such graduates.
The MP, an advocate himself, said the law graduates, from 2015 to date, have been pursuing justice for education but with no success, and have been to various courts with no help.
“We are gifted differently in other subjects. These students scored grades that qualify them to join the university to study law. But KSL is saying that even that degree is useless,” he said.
Last year, the Court of Appeal dealt a blow to the law students after ruling that they are not eligible to join the ATP.
A bench of three judges of the appellate court overturned an earlier decision of the High Court, which was made in favour of some 42 law graduates who were denied admission to KSL.
Justices Asike Makhandia, Jamila Mohammed and Sankale ole Kantai upheld the requirements, saying KSL was within its right by declining applications from the students and was not in violation of their constitutional rights or infringement of any rights to education as provided for under Article 43(1)(f).
“Failure to meet the basic requirements of the qualifications in KCSE envisaged in the above section renders one’s application incompetent and hence ripe for rejection by the KSL,” the ruling read.
According to the Commission for University Education, at least 14 universities in Kenya are accredited to offer Bachelor of Laws degree, with the programme being taught in at least 17 licensed campuses of the accredited universities
