While announcing the release of the KCSE 2023 results on Monday, Education CS Ezekiel Machogu revealed that 1,216 candidates attained a mean grade of A, a six per cent improvement compared to the 2022 edition.
Machogu also noted that male students dominated the list, with 825 producing As while 391 female candidates attained the same grade.
From the list, Kabaji Elite John from Alliance High School was among the top performers with an A, with Shadrack Wachira from Lenana High School scoring the same grade.
Light Academy's Nuyahd Nadi Omar also attained a mean grade of A, followed by Karanja Stephanie of Loreto High School, Limuru and Malcolm John Nezereah of Jamhuri High School.
The top performers also included Tiffany Maina of Riara Springs Girls High School, Philip Ndinda of Jamhuri High School, and Alfred Mutua of Moi Forces Academy.
Christopher Kinyanjui of Strathmore School and Kamutu Ndinda of Alliance Girls wrapped the top ten list.
The Education CS revealed that from a total of 903,260 candidates who sat last year's KCSE examination, 889 top performers emerged from national schools, while 172 came from extra-county schools. Private schools, on the other hand, produced 143 As.
The data also showed a worrying trend as only five and seven candidates scored As from county and sub-county schools, respectively, which accommodate over 75 per cent of students at the secondary level across the country.
On the other hand, 48,174 candidates scored a mean grade of Es in the examination, with sub-county and private schools producing the highest number of learners.
"Some national schools aren't doing a good job when a student scored an E mean grade. This is a learner who had an A in KCPE. But there's a problem with county schools, which are boarding," Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) Chief Executive Officer David Njeng'ere stated on Monday.
"The return on investment is very low when compared to other categories of schools," he added.
Further, data from the Ministry revealed that 12 subjects recorded an improvement as compared to the 2022 KCSE examination.
These subjects included Mathematics, Kiswahili, Biology, Christian and Religious Education, Business Studies, German, Music and Chemistry.
Others included French, Building Construction and Electricity.
