KUCCPS Explains New Placement Criteria That Determine 2026 University Admissions

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has revealed a new placement criteria it used to place 2025 KCSE students to university, stating that the criteria was used for the first time.

Speaking during the placement results release on Wednesday, July 8, KUCCPS Board Chairman Cyrus Gituai said the new criteria were developed following consultations with universities and professional regulatory bodies.

He said the revised framework removed entry barriers to some programmes, aligned programme clusters to address stakeholder concerns, and expanded possible career pathways for learners taking technical subjects at the KCSE level.

“The Placement Board developed criteria for placement to universities, through a consultative process that involved universities and professional or regulatory bodies. The new criteria has been implemented for the first time in this placement cycle,” Gituai stated.

The announcement comes amid questions from students and parents over how KUCCPS allocated applicants to competitive degree programmes like medicine and engineering after this year’s placement results.

How Medicine Applicants Were Ranked

Following widespread complaints after thousands of students were locked out of medicine courses, KUCCP CEO Agnes Wahome explained that admission to medicine was not based only on a candidate’s overall KCSE mean grade.

According to Wahome, applicants competed using cluster subjects, with performance in Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and a language subject used to generate a cluster weight.

According to the placement agency, all universities had a total capacity of 702 slots for medicine, against over 6,500 applicants, meaning over 5,000 students who applied for the programme were left out.

She explained that applicants were ranked according to their cluster weights before being considered for placement at individual universities.

“We look at the cluster subjects, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Language. Students compete on those subjects, and they get a cluster weight, which is then ranked. We then cut it off per university,” she said, noting that each institution admits students until its declared capacity is filled.

According to KUCCPS, the last student admitted into a programme at a particular university effectively determines that institution’s cut-off point for that year.

The announcement came moments after the agency finally released placement results for the candidates, meaning that the 2025 KCSE students now know the institution they have been placed at and which course they will study starting in September.