Nanyuki High School was the most preferred secondary school by the 2021 form ones. According to the 2021 selection results from the Education Ministry, a total of 154,524 students applied for admission to Nanyuki High school. Surprisingly, the school has a capacity of only 384 form one students.
Kabianga High School attracted 142,640 but admitted only 480. While, Pangani Girls became the most preferred girls’ school after receiving 124,982 applications.
In total, the top fifteen preferred secondary schools attracted 1,578,741 applications against their cumulative admission capacity of 5,568 form ones.
List of most preferred secondary schools
| S/N | Secondary School | Number of students selecting | Capacity/ No selected |
| 1 | Nanyuki High School | 154,524 | 384 |
| 2 | Kabianga High School | 142,640 | 480 |
| 3 | Pangani Girls | 124,982 | 384 |
| 4 | Nyandarua High School | 123,976 | 288 |
| 5 | Alliance Girls High School | 105,053 | 384 |
| 6 | Maseno School | 104,581 | 528 |
| 7 | Nakuru High School | 100,840 | 336 |
| 8 | Kapsabet Boys High | 95,642 | 384 |
| 9 | Butere Girls High School | 94,774 | 432 |
| 10 | Mbooni Girls High | 93,515 | 240 |
| 11 | Mang’u High School | 93,271 | 384 |
| 12 | Alliance High School | 87,229 | 384 |
| 13 | Kisumu Girls High School | 86,456 | 384 |
| 14 | Nakuru Girls High School | 85,764 | 240 |
| 15 | Moi Girls High School, Eldoret | 85,494 | 336 |
| 16 | Totals | 1,578,741 | 5,568 |
2021 Form one selection numbers per school category
Of the 1,179,192 candidates that sat the 2020 KCPE Examination, 1,171,265 were placed in secondary schools. This was after excluding inmates, over age candidates, and candidates from refugee camps.
Consequently, the Education Ministry placed all candidates in secondary schools in keeping with the Government’s 100% transition policy from primary to secondary education.
In the selection, the Ministry strictly applied the principles of equity, fairness, merit, transparency, inclusiveness and affirmative action in placing the KCPE 2020 candidates to form one.
In the placement, the majority of candidates who scored 400 Marks and above were placed in National or Extra County schools of their choice. The Special Needs candidates were also placed in the regular schools of their preference, while others were placed in special schools based on their disability categories on merit and choice.
In this year’s selection, the Education Ministry moved a notch higher in applying the affirmative action provision by opening opportunities for a number of children from slums.
Through this, the Ministry managed to place an additional 667 learners from slums in urban areas in National and Extra county schools. The slums identified under this arrangement were from Thika, Nyeri, Kisumu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Eldoret urban centres.
This intervention was in line with the directive of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s rallying call that the Ministry considers needy and vulnerable children in informal settlements in urban areas.
During the selection, a number of issues were noted and that require concerted efforts to address to ensure that all future KCPE candidates are able to get opportunities to study in secondary schools they desire
2020 KCPE Candidates’ School Choices
During the selection, it became clear to us that, a big number of candidates did not receive proper guidance and direction when choosing schools. For instance, Education officials were dismayed by one school whose almost entire class of candidates selected the same secondary schools, and in the same order.
This act, which borders on carelessness on the part of the school, made many of the candidates to miss their preferred schools because it is impossible to select more than five learners from the same primary school.
“We wish to call upon head teachers and parents to ensure candidates make wise choices through proper advise. I also direct my relevant Ministry officials to mount proper sensitisation programmes on the Form One selection process.” Says CS Magoha.
Here is a list showing how the 2021 form ones were placed to various school categories;
| S/N | School category | No of Girls selected | No of Boys Selected | Total |
| 1 | National | 17,406 | 18,848 | 36,254 |
| 2 | SNE | 536 | 1,291 | 1,827 |
| 3 | Extra County | 95,646 | 105,431 | 201,077 |
| 4 | County | 115,325 | 98,266 | 213,591 |
| 5 | Sub County | 357,029 | 361,487 | 718,516 |
| 6 | Total | 585,942 | 585,323 | 1,171,265 |
See also;
2021 form ones reporting dates, selection results and admission letters
2021 Form One Selection Results through SMS
How to download 2021 form one admission letters online.
Form one selection results and admission letters 2021 (Check admission results and letter)
2021 form one selection results announced (See how to get the results and other details)
2021 Form One Selection Portal; Get selection results and download your admission letter
You may also like;
How to admit 2021 Form Ones through the NEMIS system: Ministry of Education
2021 Form one selection criteria, results and admission letters; County schools
2021 Form one selection criteria, results and admission letters; Extra County schools
2021 Form one selection results and admission letters; National schools
