State opens portal for placement of 2023 KCSE students to universities, colleges

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has opened the application portal for placement of students to different institutions across the country.

Students are eligible to apply for their preferred course in an institution of their choice.

The KUCCPS application portal shall remain open for the first round of applications until February 22, 2024.

The institutions include; Universities, TVET institutions, Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) and Open University of Kenya (OUK).

"KCSE class of 2023 and other form four leavers (KCSE 2000 to 2022) are eligible to apply," the placement service noted.

Interested students have been urged to apply via the KUCCPS student portal; student.kuccps.net.

The placement service has yet to issue a deadline for the application process.

The minimum entry requirement for Degree Programmes is a Mean Grade of C+ (plus) while for Diploma Programmes is C - (minus).

Those for Craft Certificate Courses require a minimum of D (plain) and for Artisan Certificate courses is an E grade.

Grade statistics

Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu announced that a total of 201,133 candidates qualified for the university set points out of 899,453 candidates who sat for the 2023 KCSE Examination.

Of the total, 1,216 of the candidates obtained an overall grade of A, including 825 males and 391 females.

Furthermore, 2,782 girls and 4,472 males received an A- on average, with 18,078 receiving a B+. 36,728 candidates received a B plain, 59,514 received a B-, and 78,343 received a C+.

A total of 79,432 girls and 86,429 males received a D-, with 79,612 females receiving a D compared to 75,664 males. 66,032 females and 58,974 males also received a D+ rating while 19,960 girls scored grade E, compared to 28,214 males.

Machogu directed KUCCPS to align their entry requirement with the new grading system, adding that the new system will allow more candidates to pursue courses of their choice at universities and colleges.

Once the placement is done, most students are expected to start their studies in September for their first semester.

However, institutions are expected to make an official announcement of opening dates.

The CS also called for an aggressive campaign to sensitise students about university and college courses available for KCSE candidates.