KCSE candidates to apply for diploma courses

By LILLIAN ALUANGA-DELVAUX

Candidates who sat the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations will, for the first time, have a chance to apply for diploma courses in public institutions.

This new development comes as the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) announced the cut-off points for admission to degree and  diploma programmes for the 2013 Form Four leavers.

According to an advertisement in the local dailies, the cut-off point for admission to degree programmes is a grade B of 60 points for male candidates and grade B- of 58 points for female candidates.

This is based on the total declared capacity for degree programmes under Government sponsorship, and the performance analysis of the 2013 KCSE examination results.

Additionally, all candidates with a minimum overall grade of C minus will now be eligible to apply for diploma programmes.

Traditionally, all KCSE candidates have been applying for placement into public universities for degree courses, with those scoring a minimum grade C+ deemed eligible.

But under the new varsity placement guidelines that have since seen the Joint Admissions Board replaced by KUCCPS, those with a minimum grade of C- can also now apply for diploma courses in public institutions.

This means that applications into public institutions for both degree and diploma courses will, for the first time, be done on one platform.

This will effectively address situations where candidates that have successfully applied for degree programmes opt to apply directly to colleges for diploma courses, hence forefeiting that chance that could have benefited someone else.

Under the online application system that will be open between May 19 and May 31, applicants who meet the cut-off point set by the placement service for admission to degree programmes, may in addition apply for diploma programmes of their choice.

Candidates who score below the degree cut-off point but with a minimum of overall Grade C minus may, however, only apply for diploma programmes, in line with procedures outlined in the placement service website: kuccps.uonbi.ac.ke.

The site will also have information on degree and diploma programmes per university and college, subject clusters, similar programmes, previous cut-off points (where applicable), and weighted cluster calculation by performance index.

KUCCPS was established as a body corporate under Section 55 of the Universities Act of 2012. Its functions include coordinating the placement of Government sponsored students to universities and colleges.

According to the placement service, applications will be done online by all applicants, including those who may have submitted their applications earlier, either directly to universities and colleges, or through their respective schools, and would wish to revise their choices.

“We have taken into account those that had already applied while in school through JAB, and what we have done is simply taken over the applications that were made then under the admissions board. At the time candidates were only applying for degree programmes, but they now have a bigger platform that allows them to also apply for diploma courses,” says Placement Service acting CEO John Muraguri.

Under the new placement guidelines that come months before the September intake of universities, applicants with grade C minus and above will make up to six choices for diploma programmes.