Machakos County runs from the edge of Nairobi out to the dry hills of Kangundo, Matungulu and Yatta. Machakos Town is the county headquarters and its largest town, and the 2019 census counted about 1.4 million people across the county. For KPSEA and KJSEA purposes there are really two Machakos: the fast-growing Mavoko belt next to Nairobi, which includes Syokimau, Mlolongo, Athi River and Katani, and the older towns and farming wards further east. This page covers both, with a section for Syokimau and Mlolongo families who commute along the Nairobi Expressway and Mombasa Road.
KPSEA (Grade 6) and KJSEA (Grade 9) run from Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026, and learners sit the papers at their own registered school.
Syokimau And Mlolongo: A Commuter Suburb’s Exam Week
Mlolongo had an estimated 136,000 people in 2019, and Syokimau has grown from open land into gated estates within a decade. Many children here attend schools inside Mavoko, but a good number travel into Nairobi each day. Mombasa Road through Mlolongo is one of the slowest stretches in the metro area in the morning, with lorries heading to and from the port and the inland container depot. If your child crosses into Nairobi, leave earlier than usual all week. The Syokimau station on the metre-gauge line has a small number of morning commuter trains into the city, but they are few and fixed, so only rely on them if that is already your routine.
The exam countdown shows how many evenings remain.
Machakos Town And The Eastern Wards
Further from Nairobi, school journeys are shorter but often on foot, and the late-October short rains can turn murram paths to mud. A plastic bag over the exam bag and a spare pair of socks are small precautions. The other common challenge in rural homes is data: plan to open practice papers on a good signal and copy questions into an exercise book. Our 15-minute exam-week mini-papers use very little data.
Picking This Week’s Topics
With a week to go, depth beats coverage. Open What to revise now and let your child mark every topic as “fine”, “unsure” or “scared”. Spend the week on the scared ones. For Grade 9, Integrated Science and Pre-Technical Studies have wide topic lists, so check them carefully; for Grade 6, a daily short Mathematics set keeps arithmetic sharp.
From KJSEA To Grade 10
Junior school is now hosted in primary schools, so most Machakos learners sit KJSEA in the same compound as their Grade 6 assessment. Grade 10 starts in January 2027, with placement guided by the pathway your child chooses: STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts and Sports Science. Mavoko families often compare Nairobi day schools against schools within Machakos; families in the eastern wards often weigh boarding. Read our pathways guide together, try the KJSEA grade calculator, and consider the pathway report if you would like written options.
Prices And Payment
The KJSEA Grade 9 revision book costs KSh 250 and the KPSEA Grade 6 revision book KSh 200. A KSh 500 Monthly Pass opens every paper, and the December holiday packs are KSh 120 per grade. All are paid with M-Pesa (pricing). We never charge per topic. A teacher checks each question (our checking process), and CBC Guides is independent of KNEC and KICD.
Teachers can try the free report card maker. More places: CBC revision near you.