KCBE Pilot 2027: What’s Confirmed So Far as Grade 10 Moves to Grade 11

KCBE Pilot 2027: What’s Confirmed So Far as Grade 10 Moves to Grade 11.

KNEC will pilot the new Kenya Certificate of Basic Education (KCBE) summative assessment in 2027, when the pioneer Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) cohort — currently in Grade 10 — moves into Grade 11.

This has been confirmed directly by KNEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. David Njengere, during the release of the 2025 KCSE results in January 2026. Some education outlets have reported the pilot will run specifically in June 2027, citing a KNEC Competency Based Assessment (CBA) Coordinator, though KNEC’s own official statement to date commits only to the year 2027 without naming a specific month.

For Kenyan teachers, school heads and parents, this pilot is the clearest signal yet of how seriously KNEC is treating the transition to a completely new form of national assessment — one with no precedent in Kenya’s education history.

Why This Pilot Is Different From Anything KNEC Has Done Before

Kenya has run curriculum pilots before, including the 2022 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) pilot, which tested tools and procedures in 235 schools before KJSEA was rolled out nationally for the first time in 2025. The 2027 exercise follows the same logic, but the stakes are higher.

KCSE, the exam it replaces, has been administered for 37 years and is a known quantity for everyone involved. KCBE is not. It blends three years of school-based, teacher-administered assessment with a single summative exam at the end of Grade 12 — a structure Kenya has never used at this level before.

KNEC has described the pilot as an opportunity to identify gaps in logistics, scoring, technology and administration before the pioneer cohort’s results actually count.

How the Final KCBE Grade Will Be Calculated

This is the detail most parents and teachers want clarity on, and it is independently confirmed by KNEC-linked reporting beyond the pilot announcement itself: the final KCBE grade will combine three years of scores, not a single sitting.

In practice, this means 30% of a learner’s final certificate is already locked in by the projects, practicals and written tests completed during Grade 10 and Grade 11 — before the learner ever sits the Grade 12 summative paper. There is no “clean slate” at the start of Grade 12. Every SBA score uploaded in the two preceding years carries permanent weight.

The Grade 10–11 Assessment Calendar

According to KNEC’s own January 2026 guidance, each year of Senior School follows a fixed assessment cycle:

• Projects and practicals: administered between May and July
• Written tests: administered in October

Scores from both components must be uploaded to the Senior School portal, and teachers are required to retain physical evidence of learners’ work — completed projects, practical outputs and written scripts — so that any uploaded mark can be independently verified. This evidence requirement exists specifically to guard against score inflation, since SBA marks now feed directly into a national certificate rather than staying internal to the school.

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Assessment is organised around the three Senior School pathways introduced under CBC: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports Science. Every learner studies four compulsory subjects — English, Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language, Mathematics, and Community Service Learning — plus three subjects drawn from their chosen pathway.

One Certificate, Not Three

A source of genuine confusion for parents has been how many certificates a CBC learner will actually receive across their schooling. KNEC has clarified that there is only one: the KCBE, awarded at the end of Grade 12.

At earlier transition points, learners receive performance reports, not certificates:

• End of Primary School: Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) report
• End of Junior School: Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) report

These reports are used for placement and guidance but do not carry the legal standing of a national certificate. This is a deliberate departure from the old 8-4-4 structure, where learners earned two separate certificates — KCPE and KCSE. Under the new system, the KCPE and KCSE model is replaced entirely by one cumulative credential.

Registration, Tracking and the Assessment Number

Every learner has carried an Assessment Number since Grade 3, and this number now follows them through Senior School registration. When learners join Grade 10, they are registered for Senior School assessment using their KJSEA results, linking their Junior School record to their new Senior School profile. This creates a single, continuous academic trail from Grade 3 through to the final KCBE certificate.

Two official portals matter here, and Kenyan schools should bookmark both:

• seniorschool.knec.ac.ke — used by heads of institution to register their school as a valid assessment centre and to confirm learner data, including pathway selection
• cbalms.knec.ac.ke — KNEC’s free, self-paced online training platform for Senior School teachers, run through the Council’s Educational Assessment Resource Centre (EARC)

Supporting Teachers: The 235 Senior School Hubs

One detail largely absent from earlier coverage of the pilot is KNEC’s Senior School Hub network. KNEC has established 235 Senior School Hubs — five in each of Kenya’s 47 counties — using existing secondary schools chosen to represent public, private, rural, urban and special-needs institutions.

The hubs exist to give KNEC closer, more localised contact with the Senior School community and to support neighbouring schools with implementing Competency-Based Assessment correctly.

This is separate from teacher e-learning: the CBALMS portal handles online training, while the hubs provide in-person, county-level support — a two-track approach aimed at reaching teachers in remote areas without requiring costly nationwide in-person workshops for every school.

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How Pilot Schools Are Reportedly Being Selected

According to reporting on statements from a KNEC CBA Coordinator, schools for the 2027 pilot will not be chosen at random. The criteria reportedly under consideration include:

• Geography — drawing schools from urban, rural and hardship areas to surface region-specific logistical challenges
• Enrolment size — including both large, multi-stream schools and smaller institutions, since assessment logistics scale differently
• School category — covering classifications such as C1 and C4, used to describe school type, resourcing and academic profile
• Special needs schools — ensuring institutions serving learners with disabilities are represented, given the specific accommodations these learners require

It’s worth being precise about sourcing here: these selection criteria have not yet appeared in a KNEC gazette notice or circular that is independently verifiable at the time of writing. They are attributed to comments from a KNEC official as reported by education news outlets. The approach is broadly consistent with how KNEC selected the 235 schools for the 2022 KJSEA pilot, so it is plausible and in line with precedent — but schools should wait for an official KNEC circular naming the selected institutions rather than assuming their own school qualifies based on these criteria alone.

A Rehearsal Day Before the Pilot Tests

KNEC has indicated learners taking part in the pilot will be given a rehearsal day before the actual assessment begins — a practice KNEC already uses for other national assessments. KPSEA timetables, for example, have historically included a dedicated rehearsal day ahead of live testing, so this is consistent with how the Council typically manages first-time or high-anxiety assessment rollouts.

The rehearsal is expected to walk learners through how materials are issued and how responses are recorded, without any of it counting toward a score.

A Quick Note on Terminology: CBC vs. CBE

Readers may notice KNEC and Ministry of Education communications increasingly referring to “CBE” — Competency-Based Education — rather than “CBC.” In 2025, the Ministry formally rebranded the reform from Competency-Based Curriculum to Competency-Based Education, branded domestically as “Elimu Thabiti.”

The pathways, grades and assessment structure already familiar to parents remain unchanged; the rebrand reflects a broader framework covering teacher training and infrastructure, not a change to how Grade 10–12 learners are assessed. Both terms are still used interchangeably in official communication, including by KNEC itself, so don’t be alarmed if you see either name.

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What This Means for Schools, Teachers and Parents

For schools that end up selected for the 2027 pilot, the exercise offers early, practical exposure to how a live KCBE administration will actually run — insight that is likely to inform guidance shared with the wider school system ahead of the pioneer cohort’s real KCBE sitting.

For everyone else, the practical takeaway is simpler: under this system, Grade 10 and Grade 11 performance already counts. With 30% of the final KCBE grade locked in before Grade 12 even begins, the old strategy of coasting through the early years and cramming for a single final exam no longer applies. Every uploaded SBA score — from a Grade 10 practical to a Grade 11 written test — becomes a permanent part of a learner’s eventual certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

When exactly will the KCBE pilot happen?
KNEC has officially confirmed the pilot will take place in 2027, when the pioneer cohort reaches Grade 11. Some reports specify June 2027, based on comments from a KNEC CBA Coordinator, but this specific month has not yet appeared in an official KNEC circular.

Will every school take part in the pilot?
No. Only selected schools, chosen to represent a cross-section of geography, size, category and special-needs provision, will participate. KNEC is expected to notify selected schools directly.

Does the pilot count toward learners’ final KCBE grade?
No. It is a systems test for KNEC’s tools, logistics and procedures — not a scored assessment that affects any learner’s certificate.

How much does Grade 10 and Grade 11 performance count toward the final KCBE certificate?
Together, Grade 10 and Grade 11 School-Based Assessments make up 30% of the final grade (15% each), with the Grade 12 summative KCBE examination contributing the remaining 70%.

Where do teachers access CBA training?
Through cbalms.knec.ac.ke, KNEC’s free, self-paced online training portal for Senior School teachers.

KCBE Pilot 2027: What’s Confirmed So Far as Grade 10 Moves to Grade 11.

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