When do Kenya's KCSE 2026 exams end, and when are the results out?
Last checked: 10 Nov 2026 · All guides
Kenya's national secondary school exam, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), ends on Friday 20 November 2026. No date has been announced for the results. Last year's results were released on Friday 9 January 2026.
A total of 1,048,355 candidates registered for the 2026 exam across more than 10,000 centres, The Standard reported on 2 November. The 2026 cohort is the second-last to take KCSE under the 8-4-4 system.
Oral and practical papers began on Monday 19 October. Written (theory) papers began on Monday 2 November, with English Paper 1 in the morning and Chemistry Paper 1 in the afternoon. The Star's 4 March report on the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) timetable gave 19 October to 20 November as the exam period.
The dates below are as reported by those outlets and by the Kenyan news sites Biznakenya and Eastleigh Voice.
| Date | What is scheduled |
|---|---|
| Friday 16 October | Rehearsal day |
| Monday 19 to Friday 23 October | First week of oral and practical papers; the Arabic oral runs to Monday 26 October |
| Monday 26 to Friday 30 October | Further practicals: art and design, woodwork, metalwork, building construction, electricity, aviation technology, power mechanics, drawing and design, computer studies and home science (clothing construction) |
| Monday 2 November | Written papers begin: English Paper 1 in the morning, Chemistry Paper 1 in the afternoon |
| Friday 20 November | Last day of the exam; the last paper is the Physics practical |
Morning papers start at 8am and afternoon papers at 2pm, with no additional time for the second session.
Eastleigh Voice reported on 13 October 2025 that the Ministry of Education's 2026 academic calendar, signed by Julius Bitok, then Principal Secretary for Basic Education, has KCSE running from 2 November to 20 November. The site cited a circular dated 9 October 2025. Biznakenya and the Kenyan business news site Business Radar name the Physics practical as the last paper.
The 2025 KCSE results were announced on Friday 9 January 2026 by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba at a school in Eldoret, The Star and the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital say. The Star reported that morning that Ogamba was expected to preside over the release at 9.30am.
Ogamba said in December 2025, as quoted by the Kenyan news site Kenyans.co.ke on 4 January 2026, that “Traditionally, the KCSE exams are normally announced in January, and we are keeping to that tradition.” He was speaking about the 2025 results.
The Ministry of Education has not announced a date for the 2026 results.
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Drafted and translated with AI assistance; reviewed and published by editor Fengyan Du. How we use AI
Sources
Reporting Desk research, human-reviewed Sources 11 Published 10 Nov 2026 Corrections none How we check
- KCSE 2026 kicks off with oral and practical tests standardmedia.co.ke about
- KNEC administer second last KCSE exam standardmedia.co.ke about
- Breakdown of 2026 KPSEA, KJSEA and KCSE exam timetables the-star.co.ke about
- Kibabii University student arrested in suspected KCSE exam cheating syndicate citizen.digital about
- KCSE to start November 2 as Education Ministry unveils 2026 academic calendar — https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/exam schedules/225288/kcse-to-start-november-2-as-education-ministry-unveils-2026-academic-calendar
- KNEC releases 2026 KCSE timetable: See exam start date and subjects biznakenya.com
- Business Radar: 2026 KCSE timetable businessradar.co.ke
- KCSE results to be released January 9 the-star.co.ke about
- Boys outshine girls in 2025 KCSE the-star.co.ke about
- 2025 KCSE results: How candidates performed citizen.digital about
- CS Ogamba Denies KCSE Release Amid Viral Social Media Claims kenyans.co.ke about
