The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has exposed a scam where Kenyans are being asked to pay to upgrade Kenya Certificate of Secondary School Education (KCSE) results.
In a post on Tuesday, February 4, KNEC flagged a social media post asking parents and other interested parties to apply for grade upgrades and processing of KCSE certificates.
While conducting a reverse search for the original post, Kenyans.co.ke found that the fraudsters are asking Kenyans who sat for their KCSE between 2000 and 2024 and would like to change their grades to apply.
Our search revealed that the post originates from Facebook, under an account that has a KNEC logo as its profile image. The account, in its bio, indicates it does fixing of results from KCSE to university, all of which are illegal.
Kenya National Examination Council(KNEC) Chief Executive Officer David Njengere during the distribution of national exams in Murang’a.
Photo
KNEC
The group is further asking Kenyans who sat for their Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) exams would like to change their grades to also apply.
The post that has since been flagged said TVET students who sat for their exams between 2010 and 2024 were eligible for the grade upgrades.
“The above years have been made open source information in the KNEC database/servers; that’s why we are taking this opportunity to do an upgrade for those who never coped with their grades,” the fake post said in part.
However, in a rejoinder, KNEC warned, “Beware of fraudsters. Do not be conned.” There has been an increase in the number of scams surrounding KCSE exams, especially after the government announced that the last KCSE test will be done in 2027.
According to KNEC, the result slips for KCSE exams are dispatched to the Sub-County Directors of Education to be collected by the heads of institutions within one month after the release of the results.
This year’s results were released on January 9. Certificates for the 2024 class are set to be released to schools later this year. Typically, it takes eight months after sitting examinations for the certificates to be released.
A total of 965,501 candidates sat for the exams, with 246,391 students achieving a mean grade of C+ and above, qualifying them for university admission—the highest number of qualifiers in eight years.
To allow for Kenyans to meet the timeline, Education Cabinet Secretary Migos Ogamba announced a mid-year KCSE exam to be held in July between now and 2027. However, the plan has hit headwinds.
A Kisii court suspended the exams until a case challenging the matter is heard and determined. This has stopped the registration and practicals that were set to begin late last month.
But the government has said it will appeal the decision. “As a government, we are determined to ensure the mid-year exams are administered for the benefit of the students. At the moment, our lawyers need to examine the basis of the conservatory order and respond accordingly,” Ogamba explained.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba during a stakeholders forum at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in Nairobi on December 19, 2024.
Ministry of Education