The CBC curriculum in Kenya, explained

How the stages fit together

CBC runs from pre-primary through to senior school, with national assessments marking the end of each phase rather than a single make-or-break examination at the end.

The practical consequence for parents is that work done across the whole of junior school counts. School-Based Assessment contributes to placement, so a strong Grade 9 alone cannot undo a weak Grade 7 and 8.

• Pre-primary: PP1 and PP2
• Lower primary: Grades 1 to 3
• Upper primary: Grades 4 to 6, ending with KPSEA
• Junior school: Grades 7 to 9, ending with KJSEA
• Senior school: Grades 10 to 12, ending with the national senior school examination

What actually changed from 8-4-4

The headline change is specialisation. Under 8-4-4 a learner took a broad subject list to the end of secondary school. Under CBC, senior school is organised into pathways, and a learner commits to one at Grade 10 and follows it through to Grade 12.

The second change is how learners are judged. Continuous assessment carries real weight, and project work with fixed submission windows forms part of the final result rather than sitting outside it.

The assessments that count

KPSEA is sat at the end of Grade 6 and marks the move into junior school. KJSEA is sat at the end of Grade 9 and drives placement into senior school.

Both are set and marked by the Kenya National Examinations Council, so every candidate nationally sits the same papers on the same days to the same standard.

What this means for revision

Because competencies build on each other, gaps compound. A learner who never became fluent with fractions in Grade 7 meets the same weakness again in Grade 9 algebra.

That argues for steady work across the whole of junior school rather than a sprint in Term 3, and for practice that checks understanding rather than recall.