Senior Schools in Kenya: C1 to C4 Lists by County

From January 2026 the first CBC cohort moves from Grade 9 into senior school (Grades 10–12). Every learner joins a pathway (STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts & Sports Science) at a school that offers it. This section is our plain-English guide to the public senior schools on the Ministry of Education’s official list: where they are, how they are grouped, and what that means when your child fills in their school choices.

What is in the official list

The Ministry’s senior schools list (June 2025 edition) has 9,569 public senior schools across all 47 counties. For each school it gives the county and sub-county, the KNEC code, whether it is boys, girls or mixed, whether it is day or boarding, and its cluster (C1 to C4). It also flags special needs (SNE) schools and schools with integrated learners. Private schools are not on this list.

C1: 253 schools. The former national schools, all boarding.
C2: 709 schools. Media reports describe these as broadly the former extra-county schools. All are boarding.
C3: 1,373 schools. Broadly the former county schools, almost all boarding.
C4: 7,234 schools. Broadly the former sub-county schools. All are day schools and most are mixed.

How selection works

The Ministry announced on 21 December 2025 that learners choose 12 schools across C1 to C4. Placement uses 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. Your child’s pathway matters as much as the school’s name. A school can only place your child in a pathway, and a subject combination, that it actually offers. Read our placement and pathways guide and how to choose a pathway before you shortlist.

Fees

Under Gazette Notice 1449 of 2026, public day senior schools charge parents no tuition fees. Boarding schools have government fee ceilings. See senior school fees 2026 and fees by school category.

Use the senior school finder to search all 9,569 schools by name, county, sub-county, cluster, gender and day or boarding. The table below shows how many schools each county has.

Schools per county

9,569 schools in this list · Source: Ministry of Education senior schools list (June 2025). Open the finder to filter further.

County	Schools	Boarding	Day	Girls	Boys	Mixed
Baringo	205	61	144	25	16	164	View
Bomet	294	51	243	32	25	237	View
Bungoma	376	107	269	63	40	273	View
Busia	170	33	134	28	15	127	View
Elgeyo Marakwet	142	52	90	26	21	95	View
Embu	197	53	144	19	13	165	View
Garissa	44	20	24	13	15	16	View
Homa Bay	334	75	259	39	18	277	View
Isiolo	32	14	18	6	4	22	View
Kajiado	104	40	64	20	19	65	View
Kakamega	435	106	328	75	35	325	View
Kericho	253	74	179	39	25	189	View
Kiambu	295	81	213	53	40	202	View
Kilifi	187	37	150	22	17	148	View
Kirinyaga	152	36	116	23	14	115	View
Kisii	353	76	276	29	18	306	View
Kisumu	232	42	190	25	13	194	View
Kitui	468	97	371	44	31	393	View
Kwale	107	33	74	20	13	74	View
Laikipia	132	28	104	12	9	111	View
Lamu	32	5	27	4	2	26	View
Machakos	377	82	295	31	25	321	View
Makueni	396	86	310	45	36	315	View
Mandera	64	28	36	17	20	27	View
Marsabit	50	17	33	11	9	30	View
Meru	395	104	291	48	38	309	View
Migori	295	65	230	35	19	241	View
Mombasa	54	8	46	15	11	28	View
Murang'a	321	62	259	35	29	257	View
Nairobi	115	45	69	33	22	60	View
Nakuru	382	43	339	23	14	345	View
Nandi	252	61	191	38	20	194	View
Narok	189	62	126	26	17	146	View
Nyamira	191	43	148	21	10	160	View
Nyandarua	181	42	139	10	9	162	View
Nyeri	220	59	161	34	28	158	View
Samburu	52	14	38	9	10	33	View
Siaya	245	48	197	26	16	203	View
Taita Taveta	89	22	66	14	11	64	View
Tana River	41	12	29	5	1	35	View
Tharaka Nithi	159	61	98	21	13	125	View
Trans Nzoia	242	58	184	36	26	180	View
Turkana	64	38	26	19	21	24	View
Uasin Gishu	203	35	168	19	12	172	View
Vihiga	162	40	121	23	14	125	View
Wajir	80	20	60	20	11	49	View
West Pokot	206	48	158	44	37	125	View

Source: Ministry of Education, senior schools in Kenya list (June 2025), retrieved from the selection portal’s published PDF. Names are tidied for readability. KNEC codes are as published, with the leading zero restored where the PDF dropped it.