Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) CEO Agnes Wahome has revealed how the placement process for the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates will be conducted.
Speaking on the Bonga na Gava podcast on Thursday, May 21, Wahome disclosed that the placement of students in various courses and respective universities will be explicitly based on merit and system automation.
Wahome said KUCCPS has fully digitised the placement process through an automated online system designed to eliminate human interference and improve fairness.
According to her, students applying for university and college courses are ranked automatically after the release of KCSE results by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC).
She added that the online system then places learners from the highest to the lowest grades based on the number of available slots in each programme.
She explained that competitive courses, such as aeronautical engineering, attract many qualified applicants despite limited spaces, meaning the final student admitted into a programme determines the cut-off point.
“The student occupying the last available slot automatically sets the cut-off mark for that course,” she explained, noting that the process ensures integrity and fairness in placements.
Wahome further revealed that universities and colleges are required to declare their admission capacities before placement begins, including the exact number of students each course can accommodate, lecturers and training requirements.
She, however, noted that currently university capacities have exceeded the number of students qualifying for admission.
“Universities currently have more than 322,000 available slots compared to about 270,000 students who attained the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above,” she said.
She further revealed that only courses approved by the Commission for University Education (CUE) are uploaded into the KUCCPS system to ensure academic quality and accreditation standards are maintained.
At the same time, Wahome disclosed that the government is preparing new placement criteria under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.
According to her, consultations are already ongoing with universities and professional bodies to develop a framework aligned with CBC grading standards and learner competencies.
She said future placements will consider performance levels such as “Exceeding Expectations” while professional organisations continue setting subject requirements for specialised careers, including medicine and engineering.