The Ministry of Education has announced that the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results will be released on Friday, January 9, 2026.

Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba is expected to preside over the event in Eldoret, beginning at 9.30 am.

A total of 996,000 candidates sat the national examination last year across various centres in the country.

The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has been finalising the marking and processing of the results ahead of Friday’s release.

The ministry said candidates will be able to access their results shortly after the official announcement.

Some parents had raised concerns over what they perceived as a delay in releasing the 2025 KCSE results, but CS Ogamba maintained that the process was proceeding as planned.

Ogamba said the ministry has consistently released KCSE results in January and assured the public that this year’s schedule had not shifted.

In an effort to address longstanding issues around withheld certificates, the ministry has introduced a new system where candidates will collect their KCSE certificates from sub-county education offices instead of their former schools.

The change is intended to prevent delays linked to unpaid school fees.

The 2025 KCSE exams were administered between October 21 and November 14, 2025.

During the examination period, 418 candidates were flagged for various irregularities.

Marking also experienced a brief interruption after about 800 examiners staging at Maryhill Girls High School in Thika downed their tools on November 30, 2025, over concerns about working conditions and what they described as poor communication from the ministry.

The Kenya National Examinations Council later announced that the matter had been settled, stating that all examiners had received their dues and rejecting reports that coordination payments were outstanding.

Last month, the council cautioned schools against holding onto KCSE certificates for any reason.

KNEC reminded institutions that the law requires the immediate release of certificates and advised candidates experiencing difficulties to seek help from the sub-county director of education.

The directive followed persistent complaints from learners who said schools were retaining certificates to push parents to clear fee balances. Some institutions have previously justified the practice by pointing to financial risks, saying tracking former students becomes difficult once they leave school.

Other schools have cited unreturned learning materials or unresolved disciplinary issues as grounds for withholding certificates.

KNEC reiterated that such actions are unlawful and directed affected candidates to report any instances directly to education officials for intervention.