Why university cut-off points change every year during intake

KUCCPS has published cluster points and cut-off points for programmes across institutions to help candidates make informed choices. /AI IMAGE

The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) will open its application portal in March for 2025 KCSE graduates to select their preferred courses, universities and colleges, setting off the annual race for limited slots in higher learning institutions.

Ahead of the opening, KUCCPS has published cluster points and cut-off points for programmes across institutions to help candidates make informed choices — figures that often shift from year to year depending on performance trends and competition.

Kenya currently has 42 public universities, one Open University of Kenya, 30 private universities eligible for HELB loans only, 273 Ministry of Education TVET public colleges eligible for government scholarships and HELB loans, 153 public colleges in other ministries and KMTC eligible for HELB loans only, and 35 university TVETs.

To determine eligibility for admission, KUCCPS relies on cluster points and cut-off points.

Cluster points reflect a candidate’s computed performance in four subjects required for a specific degree programme, measured against the best-performing students nationally.

The scores are calculated automatically based on performance in the relevant subjects and placed to three decimal places to minimise the chances of applicants tying.

Cut-off points, meanwhile, represent the weighted cluster points of the last student placed competitively in each programme at a particular institution.

The placement service uses an automated system supported by a national performance index provided by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC).

For accuracy, candidates are discouraged from calculating their cluster points manually and are instead advised to log into their student portal, where the figures are computed automatically.

Once applications close, KUCCPS ranks all applicants for each programme from highest to lowest cluster points and uses the metric to allocate available slots.

Final placement, however, depends on available spaces, overall KCSE performance and the level of competition for each course.

As a result, a score that secured admission in one year may fall short the next if the overall performance improves and competition stiffens.

KUCCPS chief executive Agnes Wahome said publishing previous year thresholds is meant to guide students in gauging their chances.

"What we decided two years now, we said we will be letting the students get the results now then we put on our portal how the last year's placement went. The minimum entry grades and the cut-off for various universities for that last year," Wahome explained.

"It helps you to know, this is what I would like to do and I would like to do it in this university but this was the person who had the lowest grade who went into that programme. So based on my performance, am I likely to get or not likely to get? When you use that information, chances of being left out are low."

She noted that stronger national performance automatically raises the bar. "If the performance this year we had 270,000 students who got C+ and above, last year was 245,000 so the competition will be higher this year," Wahome said.

"If the last person who got into the University of Nairobi Medicine, for example, was 45.5, it's likely to be 45.7, that's how it goes so when we put it there it helps them make a choice," she added while speaking on NTV's Fixing the Nation on February 4.

Recent Bachelor of Laws (LLB) figures illustrate the annual shifts. At Nazarene University (Private), the cut-off rose from 34.715 in 2023 to 35.173 in 2024.

Chuka University (Public) recorded an increase from 38.894 to 39.419 over the same period.

At the University of Nairobi (Public), the threshold stood at 42.014 in 2023 and 40.402 in 2024, while Mt Kenya University (Private) posted a higher cut-off in 2023 at 40.474 compared to 40.165 in 2024.

Wahome also urged students to look beyond traditionally popular older universities, saying newer institutions are equally competitive.

"Our students still have that mentality that I have to go to the University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta, K.U... without realising that these others are babies of those and sometimes the baby does better than the mother. They have more energy, they are more creative, more innovative," she said.

"A case in point is Dedan Kimathi is a baby of JKUAT, but in terms of computer science, they have the programme that is very unique - megatronics. A combination of mechanical engineering and electronics and ICT. That's a Stanford right here in Kenya."

To accommodate evolving student needs, Wahome said candidates who sat KCSE in 2023 and 2024 but did not immediately join university will still be allowed to apply.

"Maybe if it's a lady you had gone to get a baby and you needed just a break or fees. Of course we encourage them to apply immediately but where circumstances force you, then we have opportunity for late application."

The standard application fee for first-time applicants is Sh1,500, payable via eCitizen.

Students are advised to retain the transaction confirmation code for use during revision of choices.

KUCCPS publishes all placement results on the student’s portal and may also send SMS notifications once the application process is completed.