The government has released the long-awaited placement results for students seeking admission to universities and colleges. The selection, conducted through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS), targets candidates who sat for the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination. This milestone prepares thousands of students to transition into universities, colleges, and technical institutions.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced that a total of 293,869 students have been successfully placed in various institutions for the 2025/2026 academic cycle. This represents a massive increase compared to the historical annual average of about 70,000 placements recorded in previous years.
To accommodate the high volume of students, the Education Cabinet Secretary also announced that the inter-institution transfer window has been extended from two weeks to one full month. This extension gives students ample time to apply for changes to their placements where necessary.
Breaking down the numbers, 202,133 students secured slots in degree programs, while 28,246 were placed at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC). Additionally, 500 students earned spots in the Diploma in Law (Paralegal) program, 765 were admitted to the Kenya Utalii College, and 875 were placed in Teacher Training Colleges (TTC) for secondary education. Notably, this marks the first time KUCCPS has placed students in Kenya Utalii College through the centralized system, signaling an expansion of institutional options available to applicants.
KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer Dr. Agnes Mercy Wahome noted that the placement exercise accounted for 81% of all students who scored a C+ and above in the 2025 KCSE exam. She highlighted that competition remains intense, with applications consistently exceeding available capacities for premium courses. For instance, while 6,500 students applied for the Bachelor of Medicine program, universities only had capacity for 702 students.
Interestingly, CS Ogamba revealed that 8,915 candidates who qualified for degree programs chose instead to pursue Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses, reflecting a growing interest in skill-based education.
Students can now log in to their KUCCPS portals to verify their assigned institutions and courses. The portal displays the specific university or college alongside the academic program the student has been selected for. Following the release, the Ministry directed universities and colleges to immediately prepare and issue admission letters to successful applicants to ensure a smooth transition into higher learning.
According to the ministry, a total of 980,535 candidates who sat for the 2025 KCSE exam were eligible to apply for placement, with 270,508 scoring the minimum C+ grade required for university degree entry.
Concurrently, the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) announced that applications for subsequent undergraduate loans are now open. First-time university joiners can also begin submitting their applications for government scholarships and student loans through the Higher Education Financing (HEF) portal.
