Girls posted stronger results than boys in the 2025 Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), according to results released on Thursday by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba.
Announcing the inaugural Grade 9 results at the Kenya National Examination Council headquarters in Nairobi, Ogamba said female learners met or exceeded expectations in 10 of the 12 subjects assessed.
He noted that the most pronounced gender gap was recorded in Kiswahili, where girls scored 64.86 per cent compared to 51.4 per cent for boys.
Christian Religious Education followed at 59.77 per cent for girls against 48.39 per cent for boys.
“The gap was also notable in English, where girls recorded 52.82 per cent against 48.45 per cent, and in Social Studies at 62.89 per cent versus 54.35 per cent,” he said.
Ogamba expressed concern over performance in Mathematics and Kenyan Sign Language, which posted lower competency levels of 32.44 per cent and 22.14 per cent respectively.
This year’s results mark the first national assessment at the end of the Junior School cycle under the Competency-Based Education (CBE) system.
The 2025 Grade 9 cohort was the pioneer class, having sat the KPSEA in 2022.
Learners were examined across nine learning areas: English; Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language; Mathematics; Integrated Science; Agriculture and Nutrition; Social Studies; Religious Education (CRE, IRE or HRE); Creative Arts and Sports; and Pre-Technical Studies.
Ogamba also announced that Nairobi recorded the highest number of candidates, with 71,022 learners sitting the assessment.
Kakamega followed with 59,384 candidates, while Nakuru ranked third with 54,028.
A total of 1,130,459 learners sat the 2025 KJSEA, comprising 578,630 boys (51.19 per cent) and 551,829 girls (48.81 per cent).
Ogamba said 41 counties registered significantly more boys than girls, while Mombasa was the only county that achieved full gender parity.
“Mombasa stands out as the only county that achieved a gender parity of 50 per cent for both male and female learners,” he said, urging counties with marked gaps to intensify community sensitisation and support programmes to keep all children in school.
He added that Isiolo, Samburu, Nairobi, Marsabit and West Pokot were the only counties where female candidates outnumbered male counterparts.
Ogamba reported that 642,620 candidates — 56.84 per cent — were within the appropriate age range of 14 to 15 years.
Another 35,270 (3.12 per cent) were aged 13 and below, while 415,059 candidates (36.71 per cent) were aged 16 and 17. Learners aged 18 and above accounted for 37,638 candidates (3.33 per cent).
Kilifi registered the highest proportion of overage learners (16 years and above) at 64.90 per cent, followed by Kwale at 64.78 per cent, Garissa at 63.38 per cent, Taita Taveta at 62.06 per cent and Mandera at 62.05 per cent.
