From Portal to Posting: How 25 Junior and 2,086 Secondary Replacement Teachers Will Be Hired

When the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) opened its portal on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, it put 7,720 teaching jobs on the table. Most of the attention has gone to the 5,609 primary school posts.

But 2,111 of the vacancies sit in the post-primary system: 25 in junior schools and 2,086 in secondary schools.

These posts follow a different rulebook, with a different panel, different qualification tests and a score sheet that can decide an application before an interview begins.

This article explains how those 2,111 posts will be filled, step by step, and ties each stage to the wording of the TSC advert.

What the advert says, and what it means for these posts

The advert invites applications to replace teachers “exiting service through natural attrition”. That phrase matters.

These are not newly created positions. Every slot exists because a teacher retired, resigned or otherwise left, which is why the vacancies are listed school by school and subject by subject.

Successful applicants will be employed on permanent and pensionable terms. The advert sets three minimum requirements: Kenyan citizenship, a minimum of a Diploma in Education for junior and secondary posts (primary posts need a P1 certificate), and registration as a teacher with TSC.

Applications close at midnight on Monday, 23 November 2026, leaving applicants 12 days from today.

Applications are online only, through the “Careers” section of www.tsc.go.ke or teachersonline.tsc.go.ke. The advert is blunt that manual applications will not be considered.

The advert also says the TSC Recruitment Guidelines for the 2026/2027 Financial Year apply. For post-primary teachers, those guidelines are set out in Circular No. 15/2026, which governs recruitment of junior and secondary school teachers on permanent and pensionable terms.

The circular does not cover primary posts, so what follows applies only to the 25 junior and 2,086 secondary vacancies.

TSC publishes the vacancy lists per county and sub-county, and the two appendices describe a very different spread for each level.

The 25 junior school vacancies are spread thinly across the country. Central region has 7, with Kiambu getting 4 (one each in Gatundu North, Kiambaa, Ruiru and Thika East) and Kirinyaga, Murang’a and Nyeri one each.

Rift Valley also has 7, Eastern and Nyanza have 4 each, Western has 2, and Coast has just 1, in Msambweni, Kwale County. Most sub-counties get a single slot, which makes the competition very local.

The 2,086 secondary vacancies are far more widely spread. They run region by region and county by county, down to sub-counties, individual schools and subject combinations.

Kiambu County alone has 123 of them. In Gatundu North Sub-County, 17 vacancies are spread across 14 schools.

Many schools need only one teacher in a single combination such as English/Literature, Mathematics/Physics or Biology/Chemistry.

A good share are also for subjects like Computer Studies, Home Science, Music, French, German, Art and Design, and technical areas such as Electricity or Building and Construction.

An applicant therefore applies not just to a county but to a subject niche, and the match between teaching subjects and the listed combination matters.

Why posting works differently for junior schools

The advert draws a line between the two levels. Successful candidates may be posted to any part of the country, not necessarily to the county or school where they were interviewed.

But teachers recruited to fill junior school replacement vacancies will be posted to the specific schools where the vacancies arose.

In practice, a candidate who wins one of the 25 junior school slots knows where they will teach. A secondary candidate has no such guarantee. They compete in a sub-county panel, but the Commission keeps the right to deploy them elsewhere.

Are you eligible? The qualification tests

The circular treats graduate, diploma and technical teachers separately.

Graduate teachers need a minimum KCSE mean grade of C+ and at least C+ in each of their two teaching subjects, or two Principals and one Subsidiary pass at A-Level. They must also hold one of the approved qualifications: a Bachelor of Education with two teaching subjects; a Bachelor of Science or Arts plus a Postgraduate Diploma in Education; a Bachelor of Science or Arts with Education; or a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Extension.

Diploma teachers need either a KCSE mean grade of C+ with at least C+ in the two teaching subjects, or a Division III at KCE with credits in the two teaching subjects plus the required A-Level passes. A Diploma in Education from a recognised teacher training institution is mandatory. The circular also sets minimum grades in English and Mathematics, with exceptions for people who graduated in 2008 or earlier and for hearing and visually impaired applicants.

Technical teachers need a KCSE mean grade of C+, at least a C in Mathematics and English, and a technical degree or diploma. Diploma and degree holders in this category must also hold a Diploma in Technical Teacher Education from the Kenya School of TVET.

Two cautions run through the circular. First, applicants trained in subjects not taught in the secondary curriculum are ineligible, even with a PGDE.

The circular names degrees such as Natural Resources, Horticulture, Fisheries, Meteorology, Forestry, Sociology, Biotechnology, Journalism, Theology and Biochemistry. Second, graduates must have completed at least eight course units in each teaching subject, studied teaching methods in both and done at least three months of teaching practice.

A third teaching subject counts only if all its units were completed over four years, including methods and practice.

Teachers trained in the newer CBE learning areas, including integrated science, Pre-technical Studies, Creative Arts, Sports and Social Studies, are eligible to apply.

The advert lists registration as a minimum requirement, and the 13 August 2026 recruitment circular is firm about it.

All applicants must be legally registered under Section 23(1) of the TSC Act, 2012, and Sub-County Directors are told to verify registration during shortlisting.

The practical lesson is that anyone who finished training recently and has not been registered should deal with it before the portal closes.

Stage 1: The system generates the list. After the portal closes, the system generates a list of applicants. The County Director passes it to Sub-County Directors, who organise the selection panels.

Stage 2: Panels are formed. For secondary schools with a Board of Management, the panel has five members: the BOM chairperson, the head of the institution, a subject specialist, the Parent Association chairperson and a TSC Sub-County Director or representative. Schools without a BOM get a five-member panel chaired by the Sub-County Director. For junior schools, the panel has three members: the Sub-County Director, the Sub-County Human Resource Officer and a Curriculum Support Officer.

This means that for a secondary vacancy, the people who judge you include someone from the school itself and a parent representative. For a junior school vacancy, the panel is made up of education officials.

Stage 3: Interview invitations. Applicants will be told the venue, date and time by SMS at least seven days in advance, so the phone number on the application must stay active. Candidates must appear in person. Those with hearing or speech disabilities may bring a sign language interpreter, and Sub-County and County Directors must make sure venues are accessible.

Stage 4: Verification. Shortlisted candidates must present original certificates and clear photocopies, as the advert states. These include the national ID, the teacher registration certificate, the diploma or degree certificate and official transcripts, KCSE and KCPE certificates, school leaving certificates, the NCPWD card where applicable, and a KNEC certification letter where applicable.

Three points trip people up. Provisional transcripts are not accepted. Candidates whose names differ across documents must submit a sworn affidavit.

Those who resat KCPE or KCSE must provide certified copies of every attempt, and those with cancelled results need a letter from the head of the institution and a certified KNEC printout.

Stage 5: Scoring and ranking. This is where merit lists are born.

Candidates are scored out of 100, and the weighting is uneven.

Academic and professional qualification (maximum 3): Degree holders get 3 for First Class, 2 for Second Class and 1 for Pass. Diploma holders get 3 for Distinction, 2 for Credit and 1 for Pass.

Age (maximum 7): 7 marks for those aged 50 and above, 5 for 45 to 49, and 3 for those 44 and below.

Length of stay since qualifying as a teacher (maximum 20): 20 marks for those who qualified in 2010 or earlier, falling by one mark per later year, to 10 for 2020, 5 for 2025 and 4 for 2026. The year counted is when the applicant satisfactorily qualified as a teacher, not the year printed on the certificate.

Experience (maximum 70): 70 marks for those who have served as a TSC intern continuously in the sub-county for 12 months or more, and 50 for less than 12 months.

Experience alone carries 70 of the 100 marks. An applicant who has interned with the Commission in the sub-county starts far ahead of a fresh graduate, who is fighting over the other 30 marks. A first-class degree is worth only 3 marks, so applicants should read the score guide with realistic eyes.

If candidates tie, the circular ranks length of stay since graduation first, then the quality of academic certificates, then the quality of professional certificates. Where aggregate grades are equal, subject grades come in.

Two preferences apply on top of merit. The advert states that applicants who have not previously been employed by TSC get preference.

The circular adds preference for applicants from the sub-county, followed by the county. For a school in a small sub-county, this local edge can matter.

The circular also reserves at least 5 percent of advertised slots for teachers with disabilities. Applicants with disabilities should indicate their status and the nature of the disability and bring their NCPWD card.

Once the panels finish, the merit lists are used to place successful candidates. The advert notes that merit lists from this exercise will be used for further recruitment within the 2026/2027 Financial Year. Candidates who interview well but are not immediately hired may still be called as more vacancies arise.

Successful candidates will later submit more documents: a bank plate or card, a KRA PIN certificate, a SHIF printout number, an NSSF card, a next of kin form, two passport-size colour photographs and an original medical report on form GP 69.

They must complete only one Application for Employment Form. The advert says completing more than one leads to disqualification.

The advert says the exercise is free of charge, and it warns against fraudsters who may extort money from applicants.

Anyone asked to pay should report to the nearest TSC office or headquarters, using the Director Staffing line (0202892193), the Deputy Director – Staffing line (0202892131) or dirstaffing@tsc.go.ke, and also to the nearest police station.

The circular adds a strong warning on documents. Presenting forged or fake academic or professional papers is an offence that leads to disqualification and/or deregistration, and an offer based on misleading information will be revoked immediately.

Anyone unhappy with the outcome can file a written complaint with the TSC County Director, copying dirstaffing@tsc.go.ke, within seven days of the selection process.

The County Director must respond within seven days and tell headquarters what was done. A further appeal can go to the Director Staffing within seven days of that decision, and the Appeals Committee must act within 14 days.

The hiring of 25 junior and 2,086 secondary replacement teachers is a local, rule-bound process. Vacancies are tied to named schools and subject combinations.

Panels sit in the sub-county. Marks lean heavily towards TSC internship experience and years since qualifying.

The advert and the circular point the same way: register, apply early, carry clean documents and trust only the official channels. Applicants who do that give themselves the best chance of landing one of these 2,111 posts.