KCSE Results: Over 48k Candidates Score Es In 2023 National Exam, CS Machogu Announces

• Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu ordered investigations after many candidates scored poorly in the 2023 KCSE exam
• Of 899, 453 candidates who sat their examinations, 48,174 scored an E, according to the results announced by Machogu
• Machogu wondered why candidates posted poor results despite KNEC using a more flexible system of computing the final overall candidate results

Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Eldoret - Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has expressed his displeasure over the decline in performance for the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.

During the release of the 2023 KCSE exam results on Monday, January 8, Machogu disclosed that 48,174 out of the 899,453 who sat for their examination scored grade E.

"I am pained by the fact that a large number of candidates (48,174 or 5.33%) still ended up scoring a mean grade of E in the 2023 KCSE Examination, even after the Ministry used a more flexible system of computing the final overall candidate results," Machogu said.

Of those who scored E, 19,960 were female, and 28,214 were male.

The Education CS directed the Directorate of Quality Assurance to investigate why many candidates scored E.

"I direct the Directorate of Quality Assurance to work with other field officers and teachers to investigate these E Grade cases in each county of the country and submit a report to me within one month for further action," he directed.

How many candidates scored A in the 2023 KCSE exam?

Meanwhile, according to the results announced by Machogua, a total of 1,216 candidates scored a mean grade of A.

"There were 1,216 (0.14%) candidates who obtained an overall grade of A in the 2023 KCSE Examination compared to 1,146 (0.13%) candidates in the year 2022," Machogu said.

Of those who scored As, 889 were from national schools, while 172 were from extra-county schools.

Private schools produced 143 As, with county and sub-county schools producing 5 and 7 As, respectively.

A total of 18,078 students attained a mean grade of B+, with 10,370 males and 7,708 females. For B plain, there are 36,728 candidates, while a total of 59,514 scored B- and 78,343 scored C+.