KNEC Rolls Out 2025 Term‑Three SBAs Across Kenya’s Primary and Junior Schools

When Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) published the 2025 Term‑Three School‑Based Assessments on September 29, schools across Kenya woke up to a flurry of downloads, planning meetings, and a ticking clock that ends on October 23.

Here’s the thing: the assessments, now live on the Council’s Competency‑Based Assessment portal (cba.knec.ac.ke), must be administered, marked, and the scores uploaded within a tight three‑week window. The move is a cornerstone of the country’s ongoing shift to the Competency‑Based Curriculum (CBC), a reform that aims to replace rote memorisation with real‑world problem solving.

Background: Kenya’s shift to the Competency‑Based Curriculum

Back in 2017 the Ministry of Education announced a bold overhaul of the national curriculum, promising a learning experience that blends knowledge, practical skills, creativity and critical thinking. Since then, the Ministry of Education (Kenya) has rolled out new teacher‑training programmes, revamped textbooks, and, crucially, introduced school‑based assessments as an annual checkpoint.

The CBC model breaks the year into three terms: Term One for diagnostic work, Term Two for projects and practicals, and Term Three for the written SBA. This structure is meant to give teachers a continuous feedback loop rather than waiting for a single high‑stakes exam at the end of the year.

What the 2025 Term‑Three SBAs entail

According to the circular circulated to headteachers, the SBA covers a staggered set of subjects depending on the grade. Grade 3 learners face only Mathematics and English. Grades 4 and 5 jump to eight learning areas, ranging from Kiswahili to Kenyan Sign Language, Agriculture, Science & Technology, Social Studies, Religious Education (covering Christian, Islamic and Hindu streams) and Creative Arts.

Grades 7 and 8 endure the most extensive programme – ten subjects including Integrated Science, Pre‑Technical Studies and even Sports. The design reflects the CBC’s emphasis on holistic development: it isn’t just about answering multiple‑choice questions, but also demonstrating competence in practical tasks that were completed earlier in Term Two.

It’s worth noting that Grade 6 and Grade 9 are exempt this year. Those cohorts are gearing up for their national summative assessments – the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) for Grade 6 and the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA) for Grade 9 – which take place in December.

How schools will implement the new tests

Headteachers are instructed to log onto the CBA portal using their credentials, download the relevant test papers, and print them for classroom use. If a school hits a technical snag, the circular says they must contact KNEC’s support line – a new help‑desk that went live earlier this year.

Once the exams are administered, teachers enter the scores back into the portal. The deadline of October 23 leaves roughly three weeks for the entire cycle – a tight schedule that some principals say feels “like running a marathon in a sprint.”

• September 29: SBA papers uploaded.
• Early October: Schools download and schedule tests.
• Mid‑October: Exams administered, marking completed.
• October 23: All scores submitted to the CBA portal.

For schools in remote areas without stable internet, KNEC has arranged for regional hubs where data can be entered offline and later synced.

Reactions from educators and officials

“The timeline is aggressive, but it forces us to be disciplined,” said Mary Atieno, a headteacher from Nakuru County. “Our teachers have been prepping for months, and the portal makes it easier to get the results into the national database.”

On the other hand, the Kenya Union of Teachers (KUT) issued a statement cautioning that some schools lack sufficient printed copies of the test booklets, risking delays.

From the Ministry’s side, Education Cabinet Secretary Evelyn N. Kioni praised the rollout as “a testament to Kenya’s commitment to modernising education.” She added that the data collected will feed into policy‑making, especially around resource allocation for schools that lag behind.

Implications for learners and future assessments

For pupils, the SBA is more than a test – it’s a snapshot of how well they’re internalising the CBC’s core competencies. Researchers from the University of Nairobi plan to analyse the October data to spot trends in literacy and numeracy across the country’s 47 counties.

Early indicators suggest that schools that invested heavily in teacher‑training during 2023‑24 are likely to see higher average scores, especially in subjects like Science & Technology where practical work is heavily weighted.

Looking ahead, KNEC hinted that the 2026 SBA could incorporate digital assessments for subjects like Mathematics, aligning with the government’s e‑learning agenda.

Next steps and timeline

The Council will publish a post‑assessment report by early December, detailing performance by region, grade and subject. Those findings will inform the next round of curriculum refinements and teacher‑professional‑development workshops scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

Meanwhile, schools that missed the October 23 deadline will face a short‑term penalty – a temporary lock on accessing the next term’s assessment materials – a measure meant to enforce compliance.