NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ministry of Education has outlined a formal, largely digital process for students seeking to change their Grade 10 school placements following the release of the 2025 Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) results and senior school placements.
Under the new framework, all replacement requests will be processed through the Grade 10 Selection System, with parents and learners required to meet strict documentation and procedural requirements before a transfer can be approved.
According to the Ministry, the move is aimed at streamlining placements, managing school capacity, and reducing confusion that has previously accompanied replacement exercises.
To initiate a transfer request, applicants must provide several mandatory documents.
These include the learner’s KJSEA assessment number, which serves as the unique examination index, and the KJSEA result slip, reflecting the composite score derived from 20pc KPSEA, 20pc school-based assessments from Grades 7 and 8, and 60pc of the Grade 9 summative assessment.
Learners will also be required to present a birth certificate to verify identity during profile updates on the system.
In addition, parents must submit a formal transfer application through the Head of the Junior School the learner attended, rather than approaching senior schools directly.
Applicants must further indicate their preferred learning pathway, choosing between STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts and Sports, alongside the subject combinations the learner selected and was examined in during the Grade 9 KJSEA.
The Ministry has also set out clear steps that must be followed for a transfer to be considered.
First, parents or guardians must lodge a formal request through the Junior School head at least two weeks before the reporting date, which has been set for January 12, 2026.
Secondly, the senior school the learner wishes to join must formally declare available vacancies through the relevant County Director of Education or Subcounty Director of Education before any request is processed.
Final approval will rest with the Ministry of Education and will be guided by the documented capacity of the receiving school and the learner’s academic performance.
Education officials said priority will be given to learners who had initially selected the target school during the original placement exercise, a measure intended to prevent overcrowding and manage expectations among parents.
Once a transfer is approved, the Ministry will issue joining instructions online, with schools expressly prohibited from issuing printed admission letters for replacement cases.
The Ministry noted that a learner’s admission will only be finalised once they physically report to the new school, after which the placement will be updated in the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS).
Education officials have urged parents and guardians to adhere strictly to the outlined procedures and timelines, warning that failure to follow the digital process could result in delayed or rejected transfer requests.
The structured approach comes as Kenya continues to implement the Competency-Based Curriculum, with the Grade 10 transition marking a key stage in aligning learners to their chosen academic and career pathways.
