Nairobi, 10 November 2026
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has opened applications for 7,720 teaching vacancies on permanent and pensionable terms. The jobs replace teachers leaving the service through natural attrition, and the online portal opened today, Tuesday, 10 November 2026. For thousands of registered teachers waiting for a break, the clock is now running.
Of the 7,720 posts, 5,609 are in primary schools, 25 are in junior schools and 2,086 are in secondary schools. These are replacement vacancies, not new positions created through expansion. Every slot exists because a teacher has retired, resigned or otherwise left, so the numbers are tied closely to staffing gaps on the ground.
Applications close at midnight on Monday, 23 November 2026, which gives candidates 14 days. Applicants should apply through the “Careers” section of www.tsc.go.ke or through teachersonline.tsc.go.ke. The advert is explicit that manual applications will not be considered, so a paper application delivered to an office will not count.
The advert sets three minimum requirements. An applicant must be a Kenyan citizen. They must hold at least a P1 certificate for primary school posts, or at least a Diploma in Education for junior and secondary school posts. And they must be registered as a teacher with TSC.
The registration requirement is the one most likely to catch people out. The recruitment circular dated 13 August 2026 says that all applicants must be legally registered teachers under Section 23(1) of the TSC Act, 2012, and that those who are not properly registered are not eligible for consideration. It also directs Sub-County Directors to verify registration status during shortlisting, so unregistered teachers should not expect to slip through. Anyone who completed training recently and has not yet been registered should sort this out before the portal closes.
For equivalent qualifications, the advert directs applicants to the TSC website.
The advert says the TSC Recruitment Guidelines for the 2026/2027 Financial Year will apply. The circular referred to in this article, Circular No. 15/2026, specifically governs recruitment of post-primary teachers, meaning junior and secondary school teachers, on permanent and pensionable terms. It does not set out the process for primary school posts. Primary applicants should therefore check the TSC website and consult their TSC County Director for the guidance that applies to them. What follows describes the post-primary process as the circular lays it out.
The circular sets out separate requirements for graduate, diploma and technical teachers.
Graduate teachers need a minimum KCSE mean grade of C+ and at least C+ in each of the two teaching subjects, or two Principals and one Subsidiary pass at A-Level. They must also hold one of the following: a Bachelor of Education with two teaching subjects; a Bachelor of Science or Arts plus a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE); a Bachelor of Science or Arts with Education; or a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Extension. The circular also lists certain Diploma in Education holders who later upgraded to a Bachelor of Education as eligible, provided they met the stated KCSE or A-Level grades before the degree.
Diploma teachers need either a KCSE mean grade of C+ with at least C+ in the two teaching subjects, or a Division III at KCE with a credit in the two teaching subjects plus the required A-Level passes and a Diploma in Education from a recognised teacher training institution. The circular also requires a minimum of C- in English and a C in Mathematics for science-based courses, or at least a D+ for non-science courses. It carves out exceptions for those who graduated in 2008 or earlier, and for hearing and visually impaired applicants.
Technical teachers need a KCSE mean grade of C+, at least a C in Mathematics and English, and a qualification such as a Bachelor of Education Technology, a relevant technical degree, or a technical diploma or higher diploma. Those in the diploma and degree categories must also hold a Diploma in Technical Teacher Education from the Kenya School of TVET. The circular refers to Circular No. 9/2026 and a table listing the relevant KCSE subjects for each CBE technical area, from Aviation to Marine and Fisheries.
A caution runs through all of this. The circular states that applicants whose training is in subjects not currently in the secondary school curriculum are not eligible, even with a PGDE. Degrees it names include Natural Resources, Horticulture, Fisheries, Meteorology, Farm Machinery, Anthropology, Forestry, Sociology, Biotechnology, Animal Husbandry, Journalism, Theology/Divinity and Biochemistry.
There is also a subject-unit rule. Graduate teachers must have completed at least eight course units in each teaching subject, studied teaching methods in both, and completed at least three months of teaching practice. A third teaching subject is considered only if the applicant can show that all units in it were completed over four years, including methods and practice.
The circular also helps applicants in the new CBE learning areas. Those who have studied integrated science, Pre-technical Studies, Creative Arts, Sports and Social Studies are eligible to apply.
Once the system generates the list of applicants, the County Director passes it to the Sub-County Directors, who convene the selection panels. Panels are small. For schools with a Board of Management, the panel has five members: the BOM chairperson, the head of the institution, a subject specialist, the Parent Association chairperson and a TSC Sub-County Director or representative. For schools without a BOM, the Sub-County Director chairs a panel of five. For junior schools, the panel has three members: the Sub-County Director, the Sub-County Human Resource Officer and a Curriculum Support Officer.
Applicants will be told the interview venue, date and time by SMS at least seven days in advance. Candidates should therefore keep the phone number on their application active, and should keep checking their messages.
Applicants must appear before the panel in person. Those with hearing or speech disabilities may bring a sign language interpreter, and Sub-County and County Directors must ensure that venues are accessible to applicants with disabilities.
Candidates are scored out of 100 using the circular’s selection score guide, and the weighting rewards some things far more than others.
The experience component carries 70 of the 100 marks, so it dominates the ranking. According to the score guide, an applicant who has interned with TSC in the sub-county for 12 months or more starts with a large lead. Fresh graduates with no internship are competing for the remaining 30 marks, spread across qualification class, age and years since qualifying. Applicants should read the score guide with this in mind, and should not assume that a first-class degree alone will carry them.
If candidates tie, the circular sets an order of priority: length of stay since graduation first, then the quality of academic certificates, then the quality of professional certificates. If applicants tie on aggregate grades, subject grades are considered.
Two preferences also apply. First, preference goes to applicants who have not previously been employed by TSC on permanent and pensionable terms, a point the advert repeats. Second, preference goes to applicants from the respective sub-county, followed by those from the county, in accordance with merit.
The circular also commits the Commission to reserving at least 5 percent of advertised slots for teachers with disabilities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities must indicate their status and the nature of the disability to inform their placement, and bring their NCPWD card.
Shortlisted candidates will be asked to present original certificates and clear photocopies. The list in the circular covers the national ID card; the teacher registration certificate; the diploma or degree certificate and official transcripts; KCSE and KCPE certificates, including those for every attempt if the candidate resat an exam; primary and secondary school leaving certificates and other relevant testimonials; the NCPWD card where applicable; and a KNEC certification letter where applicable.
Three points deserve attention. Provisional transcripts will not be accepted. Candidates whose names differ across their certificates and ID must submit an affidavit sworn under the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act explaining the discrepancy. And candidates who resat KCPE or KCSE must provide certified copies of each attempt, while those whose results were cancelled must provide a letter from the head of the institution and a certified KNEC printout confirming the cancellation.
Successful candidates will later need more documents, including a bank plate or card, a KRA PIN certificate, a SHIF printout number, an NSSF card, a next of kin form, two passport-size colour photographs and an original medical examination report on form GP 69. Applicants should begin gathering these now, rather than discovering gaps after the interview.
The circular is blunt. Anyone presenting forged or fake academic, professional or other documents commits an offence and will be disqualified and/or deregistered. An application or offer of employment based on misleading information will be revoked immediately, without further reference to the candidate.
The advert adds two warnings. Successful candidates must complete only one Application for Employment Form, and completing more than one leads to disqualification. And the recruitment exercise is free of charge. TSC warns against fraudsters who may try to extort money from unsuspecting applicants by claiming they can help with recruitment. Anyone who is asked for money should report it to the nearest TSC office or to TSC headquarters. The advert gives the Director Staffing line as 0202892193 and the Deputy Director – Staffing line as 0202892131, and the email address is dirstaffing@tsc.go.ke. Such cases should also be reported to the nearest police station.
Candidates should read two terms in the advert carefully. Successful candidates may be posted to any part of the country, not necessarily to the county or school where they were interviewed. The exception is junior school replacement vacancies, where teachers will be posted to the specific schools where the vacancies arose. And the merit lists produced in this exercise will be used for further recruitment within the 2026/2027 financial year, so candidates who interview well but are not immediately offered a post may still be considered as more vacancies come up.
The circular sets out a grievance process with tight deadlines. A dissatisfied applicant should submit a written complaint to the TSC County Director, and email TSC headquarters at dirstaffing@tsc.go.ke, within seven days of the selection process. The County Director must address complaints within seven days and inform headquarters of the action taken. If the applicant is still unhappy, they may appeal in writing to the Director Staffing at headquarters within seven days of the County Director’s decision, and the Appeals Committee must act within 14 days.
With 7,720 posts on offer and the portal open until 23 November, this is one of the larger recruitment drives of the financial year, and it is rule-heavy. The circular shows a process built on documents, registration, verification and a score sheet that heavily favours prior TSC internship experience. Applicants who prepare early, hold accurate paperwork and avoid shortcuts give themselves the best chance. Those who rely on middlemen, or on documents that cannot withstand scrutiny, risk losing both the job and their registration.
TEACHERS SERVICE COMMISSION RECRUITMENT OF PRIMARY AND POST - PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ON PERMANENT AND…
Document Verification for 20,000 Junior School Teachers Set for 23rd November Interns' transition to permanent…
Roadmap for Recruitment of 20,000 Teachers (P&P) and Promotion, July 2026 to March 2027 Teachers…
How CBC Has Changed TSC Hiring and Left P1 Teachers Facing a Long Road to…
Schools to Reopen 4th January as Ministry Rebalances Term Lengths The Ministry of Education's 2027…
School Heads to Get Clearer Powers as MPs Push for New Student Discipline Regulations The…