Only 201,133 candidates, who sat the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams, scored a mean grade of C+ (plus) and above gaining direct entry into universities.

The students who met the set requirements to join public universities in Kenya represent only 22.27 per cent of the total of 899,453 candidates who sat the KCSE exam last year.

While releasing the results at the Eldoret State Lodge, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu said all the students will be absorbed into public universities using the State’s new funding model.

The 2023 KCSE results were the first ones to be released under a new grading structure introduced in the examination, which saw compulsory subjects slashed from five to two.

The national examination held from October to November last year, saw a total of 1,216 candidates (825 male students and 391 female students) attain a mean grade of A plain.

In the 2022 KCSE exams, 173,345 students qualified for direct admission to universities.

Similarly, 18,078 candidates (10,370 male and 7,708 female) attained a B+ grade, while 36,728 students achieving B plain, 59,514 secured B-, and another 78,343 managed C+.

At the same time, 165,861 KCSE candidates (79,432 female and 86,429 male) attained D- (minus), while 48,174 other candidates (19,960 female and 28,214 male) scored Grade E.

Machogu released the results from Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) on Monday morning after sharing the outcomes with President William Ruto at State Lodge, Eldoret.

In a departure from the previous years, KCSE candidates can access their exam results online on the KNEC website on www.results.knec.ac.ke instead of the usual SMS code.