The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has directed schools to retain learners’ School-Based Assessment (SBA) work and supporting evidence for at least six months after the deadline for uploading scores to the Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) portal.
In a circular dated October 2026, KNEC said the directive covers senior school and vocational-level assessments, requiring institutions to preserve learners’ projects, practical work, written tests and other materials used to determine their performance.
The council said the move is intended to safeguard assessment records and ensure that marks uploaded to the CBA portal are backed by authentic evidence of learners’ work.
Under the guidelines, schools must retain documents generated during the assessment process for a minimum of six months from the deadline for uploading learners’ scores.
The records include project proposals, research notes, data collection records, completed project reports, field reports, observation records, teamwork documentation, self-assessment and peer-assessment reports.
Schools are also required to preserve portfolios containing drafts and final products, photographs, videos, audio recordings, test scripts, answer sheets, scoring sheets and completed assessment rubrics.
Physical products, models, artefacts and other assessment outputs must also be retained where practical.
KNEC issues guidelines on storage and confidentiality
KNEC has directed principals to ensure that all physical and electronic evidence is properly labelled, securely stored, backed up and protected against loss, damage, unauthorised access or alteration.
The council further warned that learners’ photographs, videos, audio recordings and assessment records must be treated as confidential and managed in line with applicable data-protection requirements.
Schools must also ensure that the evidence can be retrieved whenever KNEC requires it for verification, quality assurance, monitoring, audit or investigations into possible assessment irregularities.
The council cautioned that assessment evidence must not be destroyed, deleted or altered before the retention period expires or while a verification exercise, inquiry or investigation is ongoing.
Schools warned against non-compliance
It warned that failure to retain, safeguard or produce the required evidence when requested may be treated as non-compliance with assessment instructions and could attract appropriate administrative action.
Principals have been directed to bring the circular to the attention of all teachers involved in administering School-Based Assessments and ensure immediate compliance.
The directive places greater responsibility on schools to maintain proper assessment records as the Competency-Based Curriculum continues to rely on a broader range of evidence to demonstrate learners’ knowledge, practical skills and competencies.
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