The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has released the official cut-off points for students applying for degree programmes in the 2025/2026 academic year.
These cut-off benchmarks rely on performance in the 2025 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination and guide applicants, parents, and schools during the university placement cycle. KUCCPS uses these figures to show the minimum cluster points scored by the last admitted student in each programme during the previous placement round.
KUCCPS explains that these cut-off points do not stay fixed each year. They shift depending on three hard factors: programme demand, available institutional capacity, and the overall performance of KCSE candidates.
When more high-scoring students compete for limited slots in a popular course, the cut-off rises. When demand drops or capacity increases, the cut-off falls. That means students must treat these numbers as guidance, not guarantees.
Highly competitive programmes again dominate the top end of the cut-off scale. Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Science continue to attract the strongest applicants and the tightest selection thresholds.
Top public universities such as the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) post the highest cluster point requirements in most of these programmes because they receive the largest number of qualified applicants.
Medicine remains the most competitive degree path. The cut-off cluster points range from 42.0 to 44.9 depending on the university and available slots.
That range shows that only top-performing KCSE candidates qualify for direct placement in Medicine across most institutions. Pharmacy also records very high entry thresholds, with cut-off points ranging from 39.9 to 43.7, reflecting strong demand and limited training capacity.
Engineering programmes also show stiff competition across several specializations. Civil Engineering cut-off points fall between 34.3 and 43.1. Electrical and Electronic Engineering records a range of 33.9 to 42.8. Mechanical Engineering posts slightly lower but still competitive thresholds between 31.7 and 41.8. These ranges prove that engineering remains a high-demand technical field with wide variation across universities.
Clinical Medicine shows another strong performance band, with cut-off points ranging from 34.6 to 40.7. This programme attracts students interested in hands-on medical training and applied healthcare practice. Architecture also ranks among the most selective courses, with cut-off points between 39.0 and 42.5, driven by limited studio capacity and professional accreditation standards.
Computer Science shows the widest spread in the entire list, with cut-off points ranging from 23.0 to 44.4. That spread exposes a simple reality: elite universities demand very high cluster points, while newer or less competitive institutions accept much lower scores. Students who only look at the top figure misunderstand the market. Institutional choice matters as much as course choice here.
Actuarial Science continues to attract mathematically strong candidates and records cut-off points between 25.8 and 37.0. The programme remains competitive but not as tight as Medicine or Pharmacy. KUCCPS data shows that quantitative courses still draw steady interest, especially from students targeting finance and risk careers.
KUCCPS also reports lower cut-off ranges in several humanities and education programmes. Bachelor of Arts shows a range of 21.8 to 25.6, while Education programmes — including Arts, IT, and Special Needs — fall between 22.1 and 30.6. These lower thresholds create more entry opportunities for students who meet the minimum university qualification but do not reach the high cluster points required in technical or medical courses.
Officials stress a critical rule many applicants ignore: meeting the cut-off point does not secure automatic admission. Placement still depends on programme capacity and direct competition among applicants who choose the same course and institution. If too many qualified students select one programme, KUCCPS ranks them by cluster points and fills slots from the top down.
Students must check the KUCCPS student portal for programme-specific and institution-specific cut-off data before submitting choices. KUCCPS advises applicants to review subject requirements, cluster formulas, and previous trends instead of guessing. Blind selection leads to rejection even when general cut-off ranges look achievable.
The placement exercise will begin in March 2026. KUCCPS confirms that 270,715 candidates scored a mean grade of C+ and above in the 2025 KCSE exams, which qualifies them for direct university admission. Out of this group, 1,932 students earned the top grade of A, placing them in the strongest competitive position across all degree programmes.
KUCCPS directs students to compare their cluster points against programme ranges, check subject prerequisites, and submit realistic course combinations. Smart applicants balance ambition with probability instead of chasing prestige alone. That strategy increases placement success across the available university slots.
