Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu has revealed that slightly over 1,000 students scored straight As in the recently released 2023 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCPE).

Announcing the results on Monday, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu indicated that 1,216 candidates, representing 0.14 per cent, got straight As in 2023 compared to 1,146 in 2022.

Broken down, a total 0f 7,254 got A- (minus), 18,078 attained B+ (plus), 36,728 got B (plain) while 78,343 got C+ (plus).

In total, 201,133 candidates, representing 22.27 per cent, scored C+ and above and will be eligible for direct access to the university. The improvement in performance was attributed to the new grading system. 

825 male students achieved As compared to 391 female counterparts while 4,472 male students got A- (minus) compared to 2,782 female students.

"The number of candidates who attained the minimum university entry qualification (Grade C+ and above) was 201,133 (22.27%) in the year 2023 KCSE Examination compared to 173,345 (19.62%) in the year 2022. This is as a result of the application of new grading system," Machogu explained.

A total of 903,260 students sat last year's KCSE exams, an increase from 881,416 candidates who took the exams in 2022.

The CS revealed that Mathematics, Kiswahili and Biology were among the 12 subjects that recorded significant improvement compared to last year. In total, 30 subjects were administered in 2023.

Other subjects that recorded an improvement include Biology for the Blind, CRE, Business Studies, German, Music, Chemistry, Building Construction, French and Electricity.

CS Machogu, in his speech, revealed that President William Ruto promised to hire an additional 20,000 teachers in 2024 and promised that Ksh16 billion had been disbursed for secondary education.