Last reviewed: 24 October 2026
Under CBC, a report card is no longer one column of marks and a position. It describes what a learner can do in each learning area, using performance levels and teacher comments. School-based assessment (SBA) records also feed into national assessment outcomes in junior school. For heads and proprietors, that makes assessment record-keeping a compliance issue as much as a teaching one. This guide explains how to build a reliable system.
On this page
The four performance levels
CBC reports use four levels: Exceeding Expectations (EE), Meeting Expectations (ME), Approaching Expectations (AE) and Below Expectations (BE). Upper levels may break these down into numbered sub-levels. Make sure your report card legend matches the current KNEC guidance for the grade, and explain it in plain words for parents. Our parent-facing grading explainer can be shared with families.
What a good CBC report card contains
- Learner details, grade, term and year.
- Each learning area with a performance level, plus strand-level detail where practical.
- A short, specific comment per area (“Reads Grade 4 texts fluently; needs practice with comprehension questions”), not “Good” or “Work harder”.
- Core competencies and values observed.
- Co-curricular participation and CSL project notes.
- Attendance, a class teacher comment, a head teacher comment and the next term date.
Running SBA without chaos
- Plan the tasks for the term per learning area, with rubrics agreed at department level before teaching starts.
- Record as you go. Teachers enter levels within a week of each task, not all at once at the end of term.
- Moderate. Heads of department sample scripts to keep standards consistent across streams.
- Store the evidence. Keep a portfolio of samples (projects, written work, photos of practical work) per learner. Learner data falls under the Data Protection Act, so store it securely.
- Back it up. Keep one copy on a school-controlled cloud account and one offline.
Common problems
- Marks kept only in a teacher’s exercise book, then lost when the teacher leaves.
- Comments copied and pasted for the whole class. Parents compare.
- Report cards compiled by hand over a week, with typing errors.
- No record of which rubric was used, so a disputed level cannot be explained.
Templates versus a generator
A well-built spreadsheet template (one sheet per learning area, with drop-down levels and a printable report sheet) is enough for many small schools. Larger schools benefit from a report card generator: teachers enter levels and comments on their phones, the head reviews, and PDF reports go to parents by SMS link or email. Anademy by Ananke Digital supplies both: printable CBC report card and SBA rubric packs, and a CBC report card generator built to order for your school’s format. Request a demo or quote.
For what parents see on the other side, read how to read the KJSEA result slip.
Questions heads ask
Should we still rank learners? CBC moved away from ranking learners by position, and reports focus on competencies. Many parents still ask for positions. Explain the change kindly and show them the performance levels and comments instead.
How often should reports go home? At least once a term, with informal feedback in between. Short mid-term progress notes help parents act early rather than discovering problems at term end.
What if a parent disputes a level? Show the task, the rubric and the learner’s work from the portfolio. That is exactly why you store evidence. Disputes become conversations about learning, not arguments about marks.
Anademy = Ananke + Academy: school systems by Ananke Digital.