NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 9 – Female candidates once again outperformed their male counterparts in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, sustaining a growing trend of girls excelling academically in national assessments.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos said girls not only outnumbered boys for the second consecutive year, but also posted stronger mean score performances in several key subjects.
Out of the 993,226 candidates who sat the examination, 501,214 were female compared to 492,012 males, representing 50.46 per cent and 49.54 per cent respectively.
“This is the second year in a row since the inception of KCSE that female candidates are more than male candidates,” Migos said during the release of the results in Eldoret.
Strong performance across subjects
According to data released by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), female candidates recorded better mean scores than males in six subjects, including English, Kiswahili, Kenyan Sign Language, Home Science, Christian Religious Education (CRE), and Art and Design.
Education officials said the trend reflects sustained investments in girl-child education, improved retention, and targeted interventions aimed at keeping girls in school.
Boys lead in sciences
Male candidates, however, posted higher mean scores in 11 subjects, including Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, History and Government, Geography, Business Studies, and technical subjects such as Building Construction.
Performance between male and female candidates was comparable in seven subjects, including Physics, Agriculture, Computer Studies, French, German, Arabic and Music.
Gender parity varies by region
While female candidates led nationally, regional data showed variations. Fourteen counties recorded significantly higher female candidature, including Kiambu, Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega and Meru.
Conversely, 10 counties, largely in arid and semi-arid regions such as Wajir, Mandera and Garissa, recorded significantly higher male candidature, highlighting persistent regional gender disparities in access to education.
Balanced interventions
Education stakeholders say the results underscore the need for targeted support for boys, particularly in urban informal settlements and marginalized regions, where dropout rates remain high.
At the same time, the strong performance by girls has been hailed as evidence that sustained policy focus on gender equity is bearing fruit.
The 2025 KCSE examinations were sat by 993,226 candidates, with overall results showing improvements across key performance bands. The cohort is among the final groups under the outgoing 8-4-4 education system, as Kenya transitions to the Competency-Based Curriculum.
