KPSEA and KJSEA Rehearsals: Everything Parents and Learners Need to Know

Seats, Rules and OMR Sheets: What KPSEA and KJSEA Candidates Will Do on Rehearsal Day

With KCSE already under way since Monday 19th October 2026, the country’s attention now turns to the next two national assessments.

KPSEA and KJSEA candidates will go through their rehearsals on Friday 23rd October 2026, and the real assessments begin on Monday 26th October. KPSEA runs until 28th October, while KJSEA continues until 30th October.

For many Grade 6 and Grade 9 learners, rehearsal day will be their first experience of a national assessment environment.

Understanding what happens that day can calm nerves, prevent avoidable mistakes and help everyone arrive ready. This guide explains what to expect.

Why rehearsal day matters

Rehearsal day is not a formality. It is the dress rehearsal for the real thing. The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) uses it to confirm that every centre is physically ready, that the officers running the assessment know their roles, and that candidates understand the rules before a single paper is opened.

The scale of the operation explains why. About 3.4 million learners are expected to sit national exams and assessments this season: 1,303,913 in KPSEA, 1,145,585 in KJSEA and 996,078 in KCSE.

To manage this, KNEC has contracted 342,005 professionals, including centre managers, supervisors, invigilators and script markers. With numbers like these, nothing can be left to improvise on the day.

Who runs the show

Teachers contracted by KNEC serve as centre managers, supervisors and invigilators. Each role has a distinct purpose.

The centre manager is in overall charge of the centre. The supervisor oversees the conduct of the assessment and briefs and assigns duties to invigilators.

The invigilators are the officers in the rooms with candidates, and they stand at the back of the room during papers.

KNEC has set qualifications for these roles. KPSEA supervisors must be serving primary school teachers with at least three years’ experience who have previously invigilated national exams or assessments.

KPSEA invigilators must be serving primary or junior school teachers with at least three years’ experience.

For KJSEA, supervisors are serving secondary teachers with at least a Diploma in Education, or primary or junior school teachers with three or more years’ experience, and all must have supervised national exams before.

KJSEA invigilators are serving primary school teachers with at least three years’ experience.

The staffing ratios are also fixed: one supervisor for every 200 candidates and one invigilator for every 20 candidates.

A centre hosting both KJSEA and KPSEA candidates gets a single supervisor for both if the combined candidature is under 200, though each assessment still has its own rooms and invigilators.

Importantly, no supervisor or invigilator may be posted to a school where they have served in the last three years, and all officers must declare any interest in their centre. These rules exist to keep the process fair and credible.

What officers do on rehearsal day

Several important tasks are carried out before candidates sit their first paper.

1. Securing storage. The centre manager allocates a secure room with a lockable cabinet or cupboard, where examination materials other than question papers and answer scripts are kept during the assessment period.

2. Inspecting the rooms. Supervisors and invigilators check that rooms meet KNEC’s specifications and are free of stimulus materials. That means no charts, posters, notes or anything on the walls or desks that could help a candidate answer a question. If your child’s classroom normally has colourful learning displays, expect them to be removed or covered.

3. Arranging desks. Desks or tables are set out according to KNEC’s specifications. For KPSEA and KJSEA, candidates are seated by their assessment numbers. (In KCSE, the arrangement follows index numbers.)

4. Briefing candidates. Officers take candidates through how to conduct themselves during the assessment.

5. Briefing invigilators. Supervisors brief invigilators and assign duties for the assessment period, so everyone knows exactly what is expected of them.

What candidates will be taken through

For learners, rehearsal day is largely about orientation. Expect three main activities.

Instructions, guidelines and penalties

Candidates will be briefed on the instructions they must follow, the guidelines for conduct and the penalties for breaking the rules.

This is the moment to ask questions. A candidate who understands what counts as an irregularity is far less likely to commit one by accident.

Finding your desk

Candidates will be shown how desks are arranged by assessment number and will locate their own. It sounds simple, but knowing exactly where you will sit removes a great deal of first-day anxiety. Learners should remember their assessment number and be able to find their seat quickly and calmly.

Practising with OMR sheets

Both KPSEA and KJSEA include multiple-choice questions answered on Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheets. KNEC has introduced a new format for shading these forms.

The key rules are simple: shade the ellipses fully, and do not strike through them. A faint tick or a line through the bubble may not be read correctly by the machine, and a lost mark is a painful way to learn the lesson.

KNEC has posted sample OMR sheets on the CBA Grade 6 portal, under instructions and sample papers.

Parents and teachers can download these and let learners practise before Monday. Shading the weekend away on a few sample sheets is time well spent.

What happens once the assessment begins

Knowing the routine helps candidates understand why officers behave the way they do.

Materials arrive early. KPSEA and KJSEA materials are collected from the containers once each morning, which open at 6:00 a.m. KCSE materials are collected twice daily.

Packets open late. Packets are opened five minutes before the start time on the timetable, and only after officers have identified the correct box. Boxes are labelled with date and session, and colour-coded straps and polybags distinguish KPSEA, KJSEA and KCSE materials.

Attendance is digital. Centre managers record daily attendance online on the CP2 system, starting from rehearsal day.

Absent candidates are visible. The sealed question paper of an absent candidate is placed on their desk in full view of the others, so everyone can see it is untouched.

Counterfoils stay put. These remain attached to scripts until the paper’s time has elapsed. Detaching one early counts as an examination irregularity.

Scripts are carefully packed. For KJSEA, candidates sign a Script Control Form for every paper, and absentees are marked “AB” in red. Supervisors verify OMR forms and scripts, arrange them in order and pack them in return polybags by the set ranges of assessment numbers.

Phones and electronic devices

This rule applies to everyone, not just candidates. All mobile phones and electronic devices, including those belonging to security officers and teachers, are kept locked outside the exam room under a security officer’s watch, with the supervisor holding the key.

No one may enter an exam room with a phone while a paper is in progress. Candidates are also checked for unauthorised materials, and mathematical tables are checked for cleanliness. Learners should simply leave phones, smartwatches and notes at home.

Who is allowed inside the centre

To curb malpractice, KNEC allows only specific people inside examination centres during the assessment period:

• The centre manager
• The deputy principal or headteacher (where there is more than one deputy, the centre manager designates one to assist)
• Supervisors
• Invigilators
• The gatekeeper
• Laboratory technicians and science teachers, only during practicals
• Authorised support staff preparing candidates’ meals, who must restrict their movements to the kitchen

Parents, therefore, should not expect to enter school compounds during the assessment days. Drop your child at the gate, wish them well and trust the system.

Security and monitoring

KNEC monitoring officers can go straight to exam rooms without first reporting to the head’s office, and school gates must remain open from 6:00 a.m. until the day’s materials leave the centre. Centre managers must sign and stamp monitoring questionnaires.

Unlike KCSE centres, which have two security officers each and escorted centre managers, KJSEA and KPSEA centre managers are not escorted unless the area has been declared insecure.

Anyone with information about malpractice can report it. Whistle-blowers can write to KNEC, anonymously if they prefer, or call 0800721410 or 0800724900. Other contacts include 0798060000 and 0798060010, KNEC’s social media channels, or a visit to a KNEC office.

Complaints about security officers go to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on the toll-free line 1559.

Special circumstances

KNEC has provisions for candidates in difficult situations. If a candidate is hospitalised outside their sub-county, the centre manager must report this by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the paper. Such candidates must not be declared absent.

The venue where they sat the paper is recorded on the Script Control Form and in the certificate of supervision.

Centres with blind candidates who use touch readers should have at least one invigilator conversant with Braille.

Parents who think their child may need such arrangements should speak to the school head well before Friday.

The calendar at a glance

Assessment	Rehearsal	Start	End
KPSEA	23 Oct	26 Oct	28 Oct
KJSEA	23 Oct	26 Oct	30 Oct
KPLEA	23 Oct	26 Oct	29 Oct
KILEA	23 Oct	26 Oct	29 Oct

KCSE rehearsals took place on 16th October, and the exams run from 19th October to 20th November.

Practical advice for candidates

Know your assessment number. Memorise it, and write it neatly where you are asked to.

Listen carefully during the briefing. The instructions and penalties explained on Friday are the same ones that apply on Monday. Ask questions if anything is unclear.

Practise shading. Use the sample OMR sheets on the CBA Grade 6 portal. Fill the ellipses completely and never strike through them.

Leave prohibited items at home. No phones, no notes, no electronic devices.

Arrive early and rested. Officers start work as early as 6:00 a.m., and the gates open from then. A calm, punctual arrival sets the tone for the day.

Practical advice for parents

Keep the mood at home steady and encouraging. Check that your child has the necessary stationery, a good breakfast and a clear idea of the route to school.

Resist the urge to quiz them late into the night. Confidence and sleep will do more for performance than a last-minute cram.

A final word

Rehearsal day is designed to make the real assessment unremarkable. When the room is inspected, the desks are in order, the rules are understood and the officers know their roles, candidates can focus on the only thing that matters: showing what they know.

For KPSEA and KJSEA learners, Friday 23rd October is a chance to settle nerves, learn the routine and step into Monday’s assessment prepared.

Good luck to all candidates, and to the hundreds of thousands of teachers working behind the scenes to make it happen.