Thousands miss out as 6,500 compete for 702 Medicine slots in university

Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) Chief Executive Officer Mercy Wahome. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

Medicine has once again emerged as Kenya's most  competitive university degree programme, with more than 6,500 candidates battling for only 702 available slots during the 2026/27 university placement exercise.

Data released by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) shows that the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) programme attracted 6,500 applications against a combined capacity of just 702 places across public and private universities, leaving nearly 5,800 qualified applicants without admission through the government placement system.

The figures underscore the growing demand for medical training in Kenya, where medicine remains one of the most prestigious and sought-after careers despite the country's challenges in employing newly qualified doctors.

Every year, thousands of high-performing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates list medicine as their first choice, attracted by the profession's status, opportunities for specialization and the country's continuing need for healthcare workers.

Speaking during the release of the 2026/27 placement results at the Edge Convention Centre, College of Insurance in Nairobi, KUCCPS Chief Executive Officer Mercy Wahome said competition for medicine is driven by the country's top-performing students.

"The question then is how do we determine who gets medicine?" Wahome posed.

She explained that placement into medicine is based on a  performance index calculated from candidates' scores in four cluster subjects—Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and a language subject.

"We look at the cluster subjects; Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and a language. The students then compete in those four subjects. The students get a cluster weight and then the weight is what is ranked from the first to the last student, who is number 6,500," she said.

According to Wahome, KUCCPS ranks all applicants before allocating them to universities based on each institution's approved admission capacity.

"If a university has capacity for 100 students, the first 100 candidates on the ranking list are admitted to that institution. So no university will have the same cut-off as another university," she explained.

The statistics show that 1,535 applicants seeking medicine were among the 1,936 candidates who scored an A plain in the 2025 KCSE examination, while another 3,328 applicants had attained an A-.

Overall, 270,508 candidates attained the minimum university entry grade of C+ and above, representing 27.4 per cent of the total candidature. Of these, approximately 81 per cent applied for placement through KUCCPS.

Wahome noted that the remaining candidates may have chosen alternative pathways, including joining the disciplined services, enrolling in self-sponsored programmes or pursuing higher education abroad.

"For the students who got C+ and above, we can account for 81 per cent, which is a good number," she said.

Beyond medicine, KUCCPS reported encouraging performance in technical subjects, with 85 per cent of students who studied technical courses in secondary school attaining grades of C+ and above. The trend, Wahome said, aligns with the government's push under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) to produce more technically skilled graduates.

However, she expressed concern over the continued poor performance in science subjects, warning that it is limiting admission into science-based degree programmes.

Only 13 per cent of candidates who sat Chemistry attained C+ and above, while Biology recorded 17 per cent. Mathematics and General Science each posted just 19 per cent of candidates attaining the minimum university entry grade.

The weak performance means many science programmes will continue to record vacant spaces despite universities having adequate capacity.

"We had over 300,000 capacities. Some capacities will remain unfilled and a good number of these capacities are in the science subjects, so it's a challenge," Wahome said.