KNEC Pushes Back Senior School CBA Center Registration to June 15

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has extended the deadline for registering Senior Schools as Competency Based Assessment (CBA) centers until June 15. This extension follows the initial registration period, which spanned from May 7 to May 22 and did not include all eligible institutions. The council stated that the additional time is meant to guarantee that all Senior Schools have sufficient opportunity to complete the required registration process before implementing Grade 10 learner registration under the Competency Based Education (CBE) system. “We wish to inform you that the portal for registering centers for Senior Schools will be active until June 15, 2026 for centers that have not yet registered,” KNEC communicated to principals, who also function as Centre Managers. Registering as a CBA center grants institutions the authority to conduct assessments under the CBC, including administering, grading, and uploading student results to the KNEC portal. To complete registration, institutions are directed to access the portal using their existing school code as both username and password, upload their official school registration certificate, and then download and print the generated Universal Centre Code and School Registration Slip. In May, KNEC Chief Executive Officer David Njengere released a detailed implementation framework specifying guidelines for the national transition to the new curriculum. According to KNEC, once the center registration concludes, the council will make the portal available for Grade 10 learner registration. “Learner registration at Grade 10 will commence once the portal is operational, and this will be communicated by KNEC,” the council indicated. Learners will be registered using unique Assessment Numbers issued at Grade 3, which will serve as permanent identifiers to monitor learner progress through Grade 12. Principals have been assigned the responsibility of educating students and guardians on its significance. Schools will also need to verify that learners possess valid Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (IOSEA) Performance Reports. These reports must be downloaded, signed, and stamped by respective Junior School heads before registration proceeds. Under the Competency Based Assessment framework, Senior School evaluation will integrate continuous (SBA) and final summative assessments to provide a comprehensive evaluation of learner performance. Grade 10 and Grade 11 will each contribute 15 percent of the final Kenya Certificate of Basic Education (KCBE) through SBAs, while Grade 12 will account for the remaining 70 percent via summative assessment.