More than 9,000 candidates scored 400 marks in 2017 KCPE

**President Uhuru Kenyatta receives 2017 KCPE results from Education CS Fred Matang'i**

Candidates will today (Tuesday, November 21) know how they performed in the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination as Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i released the results.

All candidates who sat the exam will receive their results as there was no case of malpractice recorded. CS Matiang'i applauded the primary school teachers and school heads on their efforts to ensure that there were no irregularities on their end.

The KCPE candidates will be able to access their results through SMS and online platforms by sending their index number to 22252 or on the KNEC website.

**Goldalyn Kadiya of St Anne Junior Lubao, Kakamega County - Top candidate in 2017 KCPE exams with 455 marks**

Top candidates

The top 2017 KCPE candidate scored 455 out of 500 marks. 9,846 pupils managed to surpass the 400 mark.

Goldalyn Kadiya of St Anne Junior Lubao, Kakamega County emerged the top candidate in 2017 KCPE exams.

Last year, the top candidate scored 437 marks. CS Matiang’i noted that the pupil would not have made it among the 20 highest scorers in 2017, emphasising on the improvement witnessed in this year’s examination.

The Cabinet Secretary also said that all candidates from both public and private institutions who scored above 400 marks will be placed in national schools.

Special needs schools have produced six of the top 100 candidates.

2,360 candidates scored less than 100 marks. The number has reduced by more than 4,000 compared to 2016.

Form one selection will begin on December 4 and placement process will be completed by December 12.

Why results came early

The examinations kicked off to a smooth start on Tuesday, October 31, with minor hitches reported across the country.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said examination papers were safely distributed across all centres.

Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) said the fast release of the results was because of automated Optical Mark Recognition machines that fast-tracked the marking process.

KNEC chairman George Magoha said the examination council bought 20 machines at a cost of Sh100 million to speed up the marking of scripts.

According to Prof Magoha, acquisition of the automated Optical Mark Recognition machines, reduced the work force by up to 50 per cent.

“Through the aid of the Government, the council has purchased 20 machines which are going to ease the work of marking with great efficiency and we anticipate that the compilation of results will be concluded earlier than any other time before,” Magoha said.

Last year, the KCPE results were released on December 1.