KCSE 2025 Registration: Portal Access, Key Deadlines, and Fee

In the past, I have covered the Full KCSE timetable for the upcoming national exams, sometimes later when the year comes to an end, but I also believe that it is important also to know how you, as a candidate or even school, can ensure that all your students are registered for this Impornta exam which enables students to transition in the next phase of the academic journey. But before all this, schools must register their candidates before the set Deadlines from the Kenya National Examination Conference (KNEC).

The KCSE registration deadline for 2025 has been set for March 28. In addition, the Registration process requires that all students and Examination centres know all compliance details required from respective parties to ensure a smooth registration process. But if you are not aware of the steps to follow or even the requirements, I have curated this guide with all the information you need to know.

Who Can Register? Eligibility Criteria Explained

Although many, especially the candidates involved, might not know about what goes behind the scenes of the KCSE registration process, there are quite a lot of requirements that you must meet or even your examination centre before KNEC fully processes any Candidate registration for the KCSE exams. Below is a complete breakdown of who can register for the KCSE exams, along with the eligibility criteria:

Regular Candidates

These are categories of students found in registered public and private schools nationwide. Exam registration is done by the school principal rather than the candidates themselves. However, there are still key requirements that you must meet, which are as follows:

1. You must be genuinely eligible for the exam. as KNEC strictly prohibits the registration of “ghost candidates” and if found it can can lead to severe penalties including de-registration of the school.
2. You need to adhere to KNEC’s subject entry requirements regarding grading (subject clusters) as outlined in the KNEC Rules and Regulations (2015).
3. You must provide a correct passport-size photograph (300 x 300 pixels) during registration. Remember that no changes or replacements of photos will be permitted once registration closes.
4. Your personal information must be 100% accurate, including:
   • Correct spelling and order of your name as documented in your KCPE certificate
   • Gender and year of birth
   • Citizenship status
   • Entry codes (indicating whether it’s your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd attempt)
   • Birth certificate number
   • Subjects you’re registering for
   • Any special needs or disabilities (if applicable)

Private Candidates and Repeaters

These are a category of students who are not enrolled in a regular school setting, but rather, they must register at Sub-County Directors of Education (SCDEs) offices for them to sit for their teams. The registration for private candidates is open if they are full repeaters, those sitting for seven or more papers, and partial papers for those sitting for less than seven subjects. The only requirement in this case is that private candidates must provide proof of eligibility by providing documents such as a National ID/birth certificate/passport and proceed to pay a registration fee of Ksh. 7,200 through the E-Citizen portal.

Examination Centre

These are places where students, except for private candidates, actually have to sit their examinations. It is the work of examination centres to ensure that all students in them are registered for the exams, but before they can be able to do that, examination centres also have to meet certain criteria, which are as follows:

1. Schools with fewer than five candidates cannot register as independent examination centres; instead, they must partner with nearby approved centres.
2. Examination centres with less than thirty candidates will be hosted in examination centres identified by SCDEs.
3. Each sub-county will have only one private examination centre for private candidates and one public school where private candidates will undertake examination projects.
4. New institutions seeking registration as KNEC examination centres must undergo inspection and submit various documents, including registration certificates, inspection questionnaires, and application fees (Ksh. 5,000 for public schools and Ksh. 15,000 for private schools).

KCSE KNEC online registration for Process

The KNEC Portal is the key to ensuring all candidates are registered for the KCSE exams. If you know how to access it, well, good for you, but if you don’t know how, below is how you can log in and begin the registration process:

• Visit the official KNEC portal at www.knec-portal.ac.ke and click on Candidate registration
• To log in, you will need your school’s centre code as the username, usually an 8-digit number unique. To obtain the password, send a text message to 22262 in the format KCSE#centrecode, and you will receive it via SMS on your phone.
• Upon first login, you will be prompted to change your password as a security measure. Ensure you follow the rest of the prompts as the system guides you.

Step-by-Step Registration Process 

Once logged in, you can follow the rest of the prompts to register your candidates on time. Basically, the registration process involves a series of steps that involve uploading the registration file, followed by Candidate Profile Creation, which ensures all personal details of all candidates at your examination centre, including names and dates of birth, match those on the KCPE certificate.

Additionally, depending on the type of candidature registration, all the above documents must be uploaded as required.

The second step entails Subject Selection and Validation, where school heads must ensure that the candidates’ subject choices are as per the KNEC 2015/2024 guidelines and that the entry codes for the candidates are as accurate as possible.

The last step is the submission process for the candidates, which only happens once all the details have been confirmed to be very accurate; at this stage, you must also pay the KCSE registration fee so that all the details of the candidates can now be considered successful.

How much is the registration fee for KCSE 2025?

The registration fee for the 2025 KCSE exams is set at KSh 7,200 for all candidate types, i.e., Regular, Private and Repeaters for the 2025 KCSE exams. It is mandatory that the stated fee is paid so as to ensure successful registration for candidates.

It’s important to note that the Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Education, pays examination fees for all candidates in public and private schools except for:

• Candidates who are re-sitting/repeating the examinations
• Non-Citizens (Non-Kenyans)
• Private candidates registering in the Sub County Private Examination Centres

According to the KNEC circular seen by Mawese at the time of writing this article, the payment process must be strictly made through the E-Citizen platform. You can check this awesome guide to see how to navigate the platform, from registration to utilizing various services.

Wrapping-Up

And there you have it. We hope this guide has given you a clear overview of the KCSE registration process. Therefore, the most important detail is to ensure that you, as a candidate or school head, are able to register before the March 28 deadline to avoid being left out. If you need further clarification, please reach out in the comment section, and we will help you out.