The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has revealed plans to offer another exam in July 2025 for students whose 2024 KCSE results were cancelled.

This comes as a reprieve to over 840 candidates whose results were nullified after investigations confirmed their involvement in malpractices during the 2024 KCSE exams.

KNEC made the announcement after finalizing investigations into the results of 2,829 candidates suspected of exam irregularities.

Consequently, the examinations body released results of some schools whose results were withheld.

Initially, KNEC imposed a two-year ban on candidates for engaging in exam malpractices.

For instance, in 2019, Former Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha asked school heads and district education officers to enforce the rule to ban candidates found culpable of malpractice from sitting the national examinations for the next two years.

However, the KNEC Chief Executive David Njengere said the decision to relax the stringent rules was made with consideration for the limited time remaining before the final KCSE exams are administered.

Njengere urged those wishing to retake the exams to take advantage of the opportunity, noting that the last KCSE exams will be held in 2027.

“I wish to remind the public that the last KCSE examination will be administered in 2027. Any person wishing to repeat fully or partially should take advantage of the remaining chances to do so,” Njengere said.

From 2028, KCSE exams will be replaced by assessments under the Competency-Based Curriculum.

Meanwhile, Education CS Julius Ogamba announced the introduction of a mid-year KCSE exam series, starting in July 2025, to accommodate students who miss exams or wish to retake them.

“Starting this year and following extensive stakeholder consultations, I wish to announce that KNEC will introduce a mid-year series of the KCSE examination to be administered in July every year,” Ogamba said.