A total of 201,133 candidates who sat the 2023 KCSE exams scored a mean grade of C plus and above, earning themselves places in universities.
A total of 903,260 candidates sat the 2023 KCSE examinations which were administered from October 10 to November 24, 2023.
Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu said all the students who attained the minimum university entry grade will be absorbed by public universities under the new funding model.
The number of students who qualified to join universities in the 2023 KCSE exams is higher than those who got direct entry in 2022.
In the year 2022, some 173, 345 candidates scored a mean grade of a C plus and above and therefore qualified to join universities.
According to Machogu, the increase in 2023 is attributed to the government's new grading system that only includes two compulsory subjects in calculating the mean grade.
"'This is as a result of the new grading system that reduced the number of subjects required to compute a mean grade,'' the CS said when he released the 2023 KCSE examination results at Moi Girls Eldoret.
Last year, the Ministry of Education unveiled a new grading system that started to be implemented in the 2023 KCSE exam.
According to the new grading structure, only two mandatory subjects were required for computing the mean grade.
In the new grading system that will be applied to the 2023 KCSE exam, the only two mandatory subjects will be Mathematics and one language, (English, Kiswahili or Kenyan Sign Language).
In addition to the two mandatory subjects, Knec considered any other five best-performed subjects by the candidate.
The new reform measure is expected to increase the number of students qualifying for universities, diploma and TVET training at certificate and artisan levels.