The CBC senior school system offers Grade 10 learners three career pathways: STEM, Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports Science.
Speaking during a national schools conference in Mombasa in April 2025, Education CS Julius Ogamba said national schools would offer all three CBC pathways, citing their capacity, staffing, and infrastructure to support them.
“The abolishment of categorization of schools as either national, extra-county, county or sub-county is a key point of the transition guidelines,” he said.
Following that directive, the Ministry of Education moved to a pathway‑based classification of senior schools for CBC implementation. Under this framework:
- Triple‑pathway institutions are those that offer all three CBC pathways:
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
- Social Sciences
- Arts and Sports Science
- Double‑pathway institutions offer any two of the three pathways.
According to the Grade 10 Selection & Placement System, a platform designed to help Grade 9 learners make informed choices as they transition to Senior School, schools offering all three CBC pathways are classified as C1 senior schools.
This gives learners access to a wider range of pathway and subject combinations, and therefore, counties with more C1 schools give Grade 10 learners more options when selecting a senior school that matches their preferred pathway.
Counties With Most Schools Offering All Three CBC Career Pathways
The number of C1 schools varies across counties, with some offering Grade 10 learners a larger selection.
Counties with the highest numbers are as follows:
Kiambu County has 12 C1 schools, comprising 8 girls’ schools and 4 boys’ schools.
Nairobi County follows with 10 C1 schools, including 7 girls’ schools and 3 boys’ schools, while Nakuru County has 9 C1 schools, with 6 girls’ schools and 3 boys’ schools.
Siaya County has 7 C1 schools, comprising 3 girls’ schools and 4 boys’ schools. Kericho County has 6 C1 schools, split between 3 girls’ schools and 3 boys’ schools.
Makueni County has 9 C1 schools, comprising 5 girls’ schools and 4 boys’ schools.
| School Name | County | Gender |
| Alliance Girls’ High School | Kiambu | Girls |
| Alliance High School | Kiambu | Boys |
| Kiambui Girls’ High School | Kiambu | Girls |
| Kiambu High School | Kiambu | Boys |
| Limuru Girls’ School | Kiambu | Girls |
| Loreto High School Limuru | Kiambu | Girls |
| Mangu High School | Kiambu | Boys |
| Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel Maryhill Girls | Kiambu | Girls |
| Precious Blood Kagwe Girls Secondary School | Kiambu | Girls |
| St. Anne’s Secondary School-Lioki | Kiambu | Girls |
| St. Francis Girls High School (Mang’U) | Kiambu | Girls |
| Thika High School | Kiambu | Boys |
| Buruburu Girls Secondary | Nairobi | Girls |
| Kenya High Sch | Nairobi | Girls |
| Moi Forces | Nairobi | Boys |
| Nairobi Sch | Nairobi | Boys |
| Pangani Girls | Nairobi | Girls |
| Precious Blood Riruta | Nairobi | Girls |
| St Georges Girls | Nairobi | Girls |
| Starehe Boys | Nairobi | Boys |
| Starehe Girls | Nairobi | Girls |
| State House Girls | Nairobi | Girls |
| Mary Mount Secondary School | Nakuru | Girls |
| Moi Forces Academy Lanet | Nakuru | Girls |
| Molo Academy Boys Secondary School | Nakuru | Boys |
| Naivasha Girls Secondary School | Nakuru | Girls |
| Nakuru Girls’ High School | Nakuru | Girls |
| Njoro Boys High School | Nakuru | Boys |
| St. Bakhita Bahati Girls Secondary School | Nakuru | Girls |
| Utumishi Boys Academy | Nakuru | Boys |
| Utumishi Girls Academy | Nakuru | Girls |
| Maranda High | Siaya | Boys |
| Ng’iya Girls High School | Siaya | Girls |
| Ramba Secondary School | Siaya | Boys |
| Sawagongo High School | Siaya | Boys |
| St Mary’s Lwak Girls’ School | Siaya | Girls |
| St. Francis Rang’Ala Girls Secondary School | Siaya | Girls |
| St. Mary’s School, Yala | Siaya | Boys |
| A.I.C Litein Girls Secondary School | Kericho | Girls |
| Kabianga High School | Kericho | Boys |
| Litein High School | Kericho | Boys |
| Moi Tea Girls Secondary School | Kericho | Girls |
| Tengecha Boys High School | Kericho | Boys |
| Tengecha Girls Secondary School | Kericho | Girls |
| Makueni Boys | Makueni | Boys |
| Makueni Girls High School | Makueni | Girls |
| Matiliku Secondary School | Makueni | Boys |
| Mbooni Boys | Makueni | Boys |
| Mukaa Boys’ High School | Makueni | Boys |
| Precious Blood Secondary School – Kilungu | Makueni | Girls |
| S.T Alphonsa Kisau Girls’ Secondary School | Makueni | Girls |
| St Therese Mbooni Girls | Makueni | Girls |
| St. Joseph’s Girls Secondary Kibwezi | Makueni | Girls |
Also Read: Grade 10 CBC Subjects for Aspiring Doctors, Engineers and Lawyers
Relationship between C1 status and CBC pathway offering
In practice, almost all C1 (Cluster One) schools – the national‑equivalent, top‑tier senior secondary schools – are triple‑pathway institutions, because they were the first to be directed and resourced to offer the full set of pathways.
However, offering all three pathways does not automatically make a school C1. The published lists of “senior schools offering all three CBC pathways” include many C1 schools plus a few C2 (extra‑county) and some C3/C4 schools that have been upgraded to triple‑pathway status based on their capacity.
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