The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has announced changes to how students will respond to questions in the upcoming 2025 Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).
In a statement released on Tuesday, June 24, KNEC stated that students will now be required to shade their answers on the provided answer sheets, as opposed to the previous method of drawing a line.
“For the 2025 KPSEA and KJSEA, candidates will be expected to shade their responses in circles, unlike in the past when they were required to draw lines,” KNEC stated.
The Council further noted that sample Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets and rubrics (instructions) have been uploaded to its website for both assessments.
According to KNEC, these changes are intended to prepare learners early, making the examination process smoother in October 2025.
The Council also noted that students can now access and download KJSEA sample papers via the KNEC portal.
It stated that the purpose of releasing these samples is to help junior school learners familiarise themselves with the format of the question papers and the instructions for each subject.
“The sample papers, which are developed and disseminated by KNEC for free through the KNEC website, are designed in the format to be used for the KJSEA to be administered in October 2025,” the statement reads.
Students can access the sample paper, cover pages, and OMR through the CBA portal by using the link provided in the KNEC portal by logging in using the assessment Centres' credentials to download them.
“Schools can access the KJSEA sample papers, sample OMR sheets, and instructions for both KJSEA and KPSEA from the CBA portal,” the Council added.
To access the KJSEA sample papers, users should open the Grade 9 portal, click on the ‘Instructions and Sample Papers’ button to view all available documents, and then click the download icon next to the desired sample paper.
Students wishing to access the KJSEA cover pages and KPSEA OMR sheets are advised to log in to the KPSEA portal, either under Grade 9 or Grade 6, and download the available samples.
