Thousands of students who qualified for university admission but missed placement now have another chance after the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) opened a special late application window for degree programmes.
The new application exercise targets students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations between 2022 and 2025 and attained the minimum university entry grade of C+.
The move follows a directive by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, who announced the initiative during the release of the 2026/2027 university placement results earlier this month.
Why KUCCPS has opened a late application window
The Ministry of Education said the special application window aims to ensure that qualified students are not locked out of higher education after failing to submit applications during the regular placement exercise.
During the release of the placement results, the ministry revealed that 268,729 students attained the minimum university entry grade in the 2025 KCSE examinations.
However, only 202,133 candidates secured degree placements, leaving about 57,681 qualified students without university admission.
According to the ministry, the late application process is intended to bridge that gap and give eligible learners another opportunity to join university.
Who is eligible to apply?
Unlike previous years, the latest application is not limited to the 2025 KCSE cohort.
Students who sat KCSE in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and scored at least C+ can submit applications through the KUCCPS online portal.
The agency noted that this is the first time applicants from previous KCSE cohorts can use the normal online placement system instead of making manual requests through email.
Eligible candidates can access the KUCCPS student portal and submit their applications under the Late Degree Application section.
University capacity exceeds demand
The government has maintained that university capacity is sufficient to accommodate all qualified learners.
According to the placement data, Kenya currently has 322,396 degree slots spread across 43 public universities and 31 private universities, exceeding the number of students who qualified for admission.
In addition, more than 1.1 million training opportunities are available in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions for students pursuing technical and skills-based education.
Medicine remains the most competitive course
The latest placement figures also highlighted strong competition for health-related programmes.
Medicine emerged as the most sought-after course during the 2026/2027 placement cycle, attracting more than 6,500 applicants for only 702 available slots.
Among those who applied were over 1,500 students with A- grades and nearly 1,900 candidates who scored straight As, underscoring the growing demand for medical education.
Education-related programmes also remained highly popular, accounting for about 40 per cent of all university placements.
Kenyatta University receives highest number of placements
Among public universities, Kenyatta University admitted the largest number of students with 11,224 placements.
It was followed by Moi University, which received 8,869 students, while the University of Nairobi admitted 8,604 learners.
Education analysts attribute Kenyatta University’s popularity to its wide range of academic programmes, established reputation, and relatively affordable living costs around its main campus.
Students can also transfer institutions
Besides the late application exercise, KUCCPS has also opened a 30-day inter-institutional transfer window for students placed during the 2026/2027 admission cycle.
The transfer period, which runs until August 14, allows students who have already been placed to apply for transfers to institutions offering their preferred programmes, subject to available vacancies and eligibility requirements.
The latest measures are part of efforts by the Ministry of Education and KUCCPS to ensure more qualified students access higher education while providing greater flexibility in university placement.
