New KNEC KCSE Grading System

New KNEC Grading System for KCSE 2022 

The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) has released a new 12-point grading system that will be employed during the process of awarding scores for the KCSE 2022 candidates.

The new KNEC grading system will also help the government through the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service KUCCPS determine which candidates are fit for universities, colleges, Technical and Vocational Training Colleges, and polytechnics.

There is a marked variation in the new KNEC grading system for KCSE 2022 examinations among the subjects.

Sciences-Physics, Chemistry, and Biology for instance are graded differently from languages and humanities.

KCSE 2022 candidates for instance will require lesser marks in Sciences to attain an A compared to Humanities and Languages.

KCSE grading system, therefore, takes into account various parameters that encompass standardization and technicalities of various subjects.

Recently knec released the KCSE grading system used during national examinations.

This system is based on a numeric 12-point scale ranging between 1-12 and an elaborated letter grade ranging from A to E then X and Y i.e (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, E, X, and Y)

The Significance of the Knec grading system for KCSE candidates

Kcse means a grade of C+ is the ‘pass’ grade that determines the cut-off points for students joining universities on full government sponsorship.

In that the nature of most Kenyan households, students struggle to attain a grade C+ to save their parents from incurring tertiary education tuition fees.

Apart from that the majority of employers consider grades C to E insignificant owing to the rising literacy levels and stiff competition for limited white job opportunities. Most candidates who score the aforementioned grades however get placed by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service, KUCCPS, in technical and vocational institutions.

Grade A is the best grade a student can strive to get. It takes a mixture of grades A- to B- for a student to enroll in a good university.

Official KCSE KNEC Grading System 2022/2023

The official KCSE grading system measures all the mastery of the 6 levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. See the image below

Further, it measures the competence levels achieved by learners at the end of the four-year courses.

This paradigm shift in the KNEC Grading System

It is recently, KNEC used the grading system as a comparative tool for weighing students’ abilities.

The KCSE grading system measures all the mastery of the 6 levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. See the image below

It also measures the competence levels achieved by learners at the end of the four-year course.

Here is the latest grading system adopted by knec during KCSE examinations;

Points	101; ENGLISH
12	80 – 100	A
11	75 – 79	A-
10	70 – 74	B+
9	65- 69	B
8	60 – 64	B-
7	55 – 59	C+
6	50 – 54	C
5	45 – 49	C-
4	40 – 44	D+
3	35 -39	D
2	30 -34	D-
1	0 -29	E

POINTS	102; KISWAHILI
12	78 – 100	A
11	73 – 77	A-
10	68 – 72	B+
9	63 – 67	B
8	58 – 62	B-
7	53 – 57	C+
6	48 – 52	C
5	43 – 47	C-
4	38 – 42	D+
3	33 – 37	D
2	28 – 32	D-
1	0 – 27	E

POINTS	121; MATHEMATICS
12	70 – 100	A
11	65 – 69	A-
10	60 – 64	B+
9	55 – 59	B
8	49 – 54	B-
7	43 – 48	C+
6	37 – 42	C
5	31 – 36	C-
4	25 – 30	D+
3	19  – 24	D
2	12 – 18	D-
1	0 -11	E

POINTS	231; BIOLOGY
12	80 – 100	A
11	75 -79	A-
10	70 – 74	B+
9	65- 69	B
8	60 – 64	B-
7	55 – 59	C+
6	50 – 54	C
5	45 – 49	C-
4	40 – 44	D+
3	35-39	D
2	30-34	D-
1	0 -29	E

POINTS	232; PHYSICS
12	60 – 100	A
11	55 – 59	A-
10	50 – 54	B+
9	45 – 49	B
8	40 – 44	B-
7	35 – 39	C+
6	30 – 34	C
5	25 – 29	C-
4	20 – 24	D+
3	15 – 19	D
2	10 – 14	D-
1	0 – 9	E

POINTS	233; CHEMISTRY
12	65 – 100	A
11	60 – 64	A-
10	55 – 59	B+
9	50 – 54	B
8	45 – 49	B-
7	40 – 44	C+
6	35 – 39	C
5	30 – 34	C-
4	25 – 29	D+
3	20 – 24	D
2	15 – 19	D-
1	0 – 14	E

POINTS	311- HISTORY
12	80 – 100	A
11	75 – 79	A-
10	70 – 74	B+
9	65 – 69	B
8	60 – 64	B-
7	55 – 59	C+
6	50 – 54	C
5	45 – 49	C-
4	40 – 44	D+
3	35 – 39	D
2	30 – 34	D-
1	0 -29	E

POINTS	312- GEOGRAPHY
12	66 – 100	A
11	61 – 65	A-
10	56 – 60	B+
9	51 – 55	B
8	46 – 50	B-
7	41 – 45	C+
6	36 – 40	C
5	31 – 35	C-
4	26 – 30	D+
3	21 – 25	D
2	16 – 20	D-
1	0 – 15	E

POINTS	313- CRE
12	90 – 100	A
11	85 – 89	A-
10	80 – 84	B+
9	75 – 79	B
8	70 – 74	B-
7	65 – 69	C+
6	60 – 64	C
5	55 – 59	C-
4	50 – 54	D+
3	45 – 49	D
2	40 – 44	D-
1	0 – 39	E

POINTS	443- AGRICULTURE
12	88 – 100	A
11	83 – 87	A-
10	78 – 82	B+
9	73 – 77	B
8	68 – 72	B-
7	63 – 67	C+
6	58 – 62	C
5	53 – 57	C-
4	48 – 52	D+
3	43 – 47	D
2	38 – 42	D-
1	0 – 37	E