CBC Senior School Pathways

How Senior School Pathways Work

Senior school covers Grades 10, 11 and 12. The Ministry of Education describes it as a “pre-tertiary, pre-university, pre-career experience” in which learners choose subjects from the pathway where they have shown interest or potential in earlier grades. There are three pathways: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Social Sciences, and Arts & Sports Science.

Every learner takes seven subjects. Four are core: English, Kiswahili (or Kenyan Sign Language), Community Service Learning, and Mathematics. STEM learners take Core Mathematics. Social Sciences and Arts & Sports learners take Essential Mathematics, although a learner outside STEM may be allowed Core Mathematics if their junior school results show they are ready. The other three subjects are the learner’s subject combination.

The guidelines advise taking at least two of the three chosen subjects from your pathway. So a combination can be three subjects from one pathway, or two plus one from another. Where a career genuinely needs one subject from each pathway, the guidelines say that “should be permitted”.

A senior school must offer at least two pathways, depending on its teachers and facilities, and each school offers only some combinations. That is why the combination your child wants should shape which schools you pick. Our Grade 9 subject combinations guide explains the rules in more depth.

The quiz asks about interests, how your child likes to learn, and the work they can picture doing. Each answer adds weight to one or more of the seven tracks. If you add Grade 8 or mock levels, strong and weak learning areas shift the result a little, because the Ministry asks learners to choose where they have shown potential as well as interest. The result names the strongest track, its pathway, a close second if there is one, and three combinations from the Ministry’s list that match the answers.

It is not a psychometric test and it is not your placement. It is a structured way to start the conversation at home. Use it alongside your child’s reports, the KPSEA result and the career guidance teacher’s view. If the result surprises you, that is useful too: ask your child why they answered the way they did.

KJSEA, Placement and the 2026 Timeline

Pathway and school choices are made in Grade 9 through the junior school on the Ministry’s selection portal. For the first cohort, placement used a combined score: 60% from the Grade 9 KJSEA, 20% from school-based assessment in Grades 7 and 8, and 20% from KPSEA in Grade 6. The Ministry’s automated system then matched learners using their choices, their performance and “other considerations designed to promote merit, equity, and fairness”, within each school’s capacity. Our placement guide covers the details.

There is still time to revise before KJSEA. Try our Grade 9 revision papers or the Grade 9 CBC Challenge, and see the full KJSEA 2026 timetable.

Use our senior school finder to list every public senior school by county, sub-county, cluster and boarding type, or browse C1, C2, C3 and C4 schools. The Ministry’s published schools list does not say which pathways each school offers, so confirm the combinations on the selection portal or with the school before you rank it. Public day senior schools charge parents no tuition fees; see senior school fees 2026 for boarding costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pathways are there in CBC senior school?

Three: STEM; Social Sciences; and Arts & Sports Science. They are split into seven tracks. STEM has Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences and Technical Studies. Social Sciences has Languages & Literature and Humanities & Business Studies. Arts & Sports Science has Arts and Sports Science.

Is this quiz the same as the Ministry’s placement?

No. The quiz is guidance from CBC Guides to help families talk about the choice. Placement is done by the Ministry of Education using KJSEA, school-based assessment, KPSEA, the learner’s choices and school capacity.

Can my child take subjects from two pathways?

Yes. The Ministry advises at least two of the three chosen subjects from the main pathway, so one can come from another pathway. Where a career needs one subject from each pathway, the guidelines say that should be permitted.

Does Social Sciences or Arts mean no Mathematics?

No. Every learner takes Mathematics. STEM learners take Core Mathematics and others take Essential Mathematics, unless their junior school results show they are ready for Core Mathematics and the school allows it.

Which pathway is best?

None is better than another. The right pathway is the one that matches your child’s strengths, interests and the careers they are considering. Biology, Chemistry and Physics is right for a future doctor and wrong for a future lawyer.

• Ministry of Education, Guidelines for Implementation of Senior School Education (October 2025)
• Ministry of Education, Full list of senior schools’ pathways, tracks and subject combinations
• Ministry of Education, Status of the ongoing placement of Grade 9 learners
• Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), 2026 KJSEA timetable

Information is checked against official documents as of 18 October 2026. Where the Ministry has not yet announced something for the 2026 cohort, we say so.