Female law students outshone their male colleagues in the November 2025 Advocates Training Programme (ATP) examinations, the Council of Legal Education (CLE) has confirmed, despite a general drop in overall performance compared to last year.
Out of 2,968 candidates who sat for the exams, 1,835 regular and 1,133 retakes, women consistently achieved higher pass rates across most subjects. Among regular candidates, female students scored between 55.5% and 58.5%, while male students managed between 41.5% and 44.5%.
“The November 2025 examinations reflect a dip in performance compared to the November 2024 ATP Examination,” CLE said in a statement.
Professional Ethics (ATP 105) once again posed the greatest challenge, recording the lowest pass rate at just 25.38%. This marks the third consecutive exam series where the unit has performed poorly, highlighting persistent difficulties in mastering this area of the curriculum.
On the other hand, ATP 104 – Trial Advocacy recorded the strongest results, with 97.49% of candidates passing.
CLE highlighted its ongoing reforms aimed at fairness and inclusivity in the examinations.
“CLE has been undertaking various reforms in the administration of the ATP Examination, including setting, marking, and release of results. Notably, in this series, CLE facilitated eleven candidates with special needs, e.g., providing a typist,” the council said.
The council reiterated its dedication to advancing quality legal training in Kenya.
“CLE is guided by its vision of developing innovative legal professionals through transformative legal education and training in Kenya. We actively engage stakeholders to align legal training with emerging trends in practice,” the statement added.
