- All institutions accredited as senior school assessment centres are to register every eligible Grade 10 learner through the School-Based Assessment (SBA) portal by July 30
- Schools have already been granted access to the platform using their universal assessment centre codes to facilitate the exercise.
- The exercise marks the first national assessment process for the pioneer Grade 10 cohort under CBE
The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has set July 30, 2026, as the deadline for senior schools nationwide to register all eligible Grade 10 learners for the country’s inaugural Senior School-Based Assessments, a key step in the rollout of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) curriculum.
The directive, issued to school principals by KNEC Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Njengere, requires all institutions accredited as senior school assessment centres to register every eligible Grade 10 learner through the School-Based Assessment (SBA) portal. The affected schools have already been granted access to the platform using their universal assessment centre codes to facilitate the exercise.
Dr. Njengere stressed that timely registration is essential to ensure every eligible learner is captured in the national assessment database, warning that only learners successfully registered within the stipulated window will be eligible to sit the school-based assessments.
The assessments form an integral part of the continuous evaluation system under CBE.
The exercise marks the first national assessment process for the pioneer Grade 10 cohort now in senior school under CBE. It represents a significant departure from the former 8-4-4 system, where learners relied primarily on a single final examination; under CBE, continuous school-based assessments are combined with national evaluations to determine learners’ overall achievement by the end of Grade 12.
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KNEC has urged principals to thoroughly verify all learner information before submitting registrations, cautioning that omissions or errors could affect candidates’ participation in the assessment process. Schools have further been advised against waiting until the final days of the registration window, so as to allow sufficient time to resolve any technical or administrative challenges before the portal closes.
The Council reaffirmed that strict adherence to the July 30 deadline is critical for effective planning and the successful administration of the country’s first Senior School-Based Assessments. It further reiterated the government’s commitment to a competency-based evaluation system designed to progressively measure learners’ knowledge, practical skills, values and competencies throughout their senior school education.
By Hillary Muhalya
