2025 KCSE results: Top performing schools in Siaya West
This article was originally published in the Tribune print issue 3 in February 2026. It was republished online in September 2026.
By the Tribune
A total of 1,352 students in 17 secondary schools across Siaya West sat the 2025 KCSE exam, according to the results report from the Ministry of Education.
Of these, 138 students, or just over 10% of the candidates, got grade C+ and above. Some 102 students, or 7.5% of the candidates, got grade E, the lowest grade in KCSE.
Nyambare Secondary School in Usonga had the largest number of students in the exam, the most number of university grades and the strongest mean. The school had 205 students sitting the exam, with 72 students getting C+ and above. That represents 35% of its candidates.
Business Studies, Physics, and History were the school’s best-performing subjects. Still, the school’s mean edged lower by 0.37 grade points to 5.94.
At Dirk Allision GSM Secondary School in Uranga, the second-largest senior school in Siaya West by student population, 185 students sat the exam. The school had 19 students with university grades, but its mean came down by 0.28 points to 4.0.
Lucy Ongek, the principal of Dirk Allison, said she was happy with the performance and thanked God for it.
“The KCSE results for our school was good. Every student scored what they worked for,” she said. “It was our genuine result,” she added.
Mrs. Ongek said the school enrolled a record number of candidates for the 2025 KCSE. “With such large numbers, sometimes the target can be hard to reach,” she said regarding the lower mean.
St. Francis Mahola, the third-largest secondary school by student population, had 180 candidates in the exam. Of these, 16 attained university grades. That was a steep decline from the previous year when 21 students had university grades. The school’s mean also came down to 3.19 from 4.12 in the previous year.
Erick Odianga, the principal of Mahola, wants to see this as an anomaly for the school.
He offered a portrait of a difficult 2025 class. “We had challenges with a number of students who decided not to be in school for the entire period,” he said.
According to the principal, the area chief had to go around in the villages to bring the students back to school to write the exam. Mr. Odianga said the school has designed measures to mitigate such issues. He cited a shortage of teaching staff as one of their challenges.
At Malomba, seven students got university grades out of 112 who wrote the exam. The school’s mean dropped to 3.34 from 3.53 in the previous year.
Charles Odhiambo, the principal, said they had a large number of students with “low entry behaviour,” using a professional language that basically means the 2025 class had many students who joined with weak grades.
He said the school has put down strategies to improve the results in the future. He cited benchmarking, early syllabus coverage, and thorough revision before the final exam.
At Marjorie Wendland High School, a private school with world-class infrastructure, six students got university grades out of 33 candidates. The mean dipped to 5.21 from 5.47. Rattled by this anemic performance, the management ousted the principal and let go of nearly half of the teaching team that handled the candidate class.
Tom Abungu, the Marjorie Wendland director, said they have picked Daniel Oloo as the new principal. “We expect a great improvement,” said Mr. Abungu, adding that Mr. Oloo was previously at Maranda High School.
Perhaps the greatest surprise of the 2025 KCSE was Mwer High School. Its mean jumped 1.87 points to 5.72, the highest it has posted in at least five years. Mwer enrolled 32 students for the exam. The top student got grade B, with seven students attaining C+ and above.
Mwer’s surprisingly strong showing comes at a time when the school’s former students have stepped in with support to reverse its academic decline.
In their 2023 alumni meeting, Mwer old boys presented the school with a large photocopy machine to help in producing tests. They have continued to raise money for the school since.
Mwer was once a big name in academics. The list of its prominent old students include George Odhiambo, the National Bank MD, Patrick Hayombe, a professor at JOOUST, and Frank Ochung, a certified public accountant.
In recent years, though, Mwer has become a pale shadow of its former self. Its student population has dwindled to fewer than 150 last year, from more than 1,000 students in its heyday. The old boys last month launched an initiative to boost the school’s student enrollment.
Hawinga Girls High School made it to the top five list by mean but had no students with a university grade. Fr. Gulik Girls Uradi had six students with university grades out of 103 candidates. The school’s mean dipped slightly to 3.84.