The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) has announced an extension of the application deadline for government-funded slots in tertiary institutions due to portal hitches experienced by applicants.
Responding to public concerns regarding downtime on the application portal before the initial deadline of February 26, KUCCPS assured applicants that they would not be disadvantaged by the technical issues.
Dr. Mercy Wahome, the CEO of KUCCPS, stated in a Sunday evening statement that the decision to extend the deadline was made to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for all students participating in the application process.
Wahome emphasized that every student is considered a first-time applicant under the current application process, which no longer involves applications at the school level. The processing of applications will commence once all applicants have submitted their choices based on the targeted number of students.
To avoid complications with payments, particularly due to the migration of government services payments to the eCitizen platform, KUCCPS advised applicants to be cautious to prevent double payments, considering the longer payment validation processes.
Furthermore, KUCCPS announced that it would provide two revision opportunities after the initial placement exercise for students who need to reapply or adjust their choices.
“We are working closely with relevant stakeholders in Government to ensure that all applicants are enabled to submit their choices in the spirit of leaving no student behind,” Wahome affirmed.
The KUCCPS portal for the application for placement of students to universities and colleges was opened on February 7. Under the 2024/25 placement cycle, students have a wide array of choices, including 69 universities, three Secondary Teachers Training Colleges, 226 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, and Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTC) campuses.
Eligibility criteria vary for different programs, with all 2023 candidates eligible for degree and TVET programs, while those dating back to 2000 are eligible for TVET courses only. KMTC programs are tailored for KCSE examination cohorts from the year 2014 to 2023.
