How JAB Selects Candidates

The Joint Admissions Board (JAB) is the admissions body that conducts the admissions to the public Universities. Unlike in many countries, the admission to Kenya’s public Universities is centralized. Just after the KCSE results are released, JAB sits and sets the cut off points. The cut off points for the 2010 KCSE candidates was 63 points for male students and 61 points for female students. The lower points for the female students are considered to be some form of affirmative action to increase the number of female students enrolling in universities.

After the cut off points have been announced, the Joint Admissions Board uses what is known as the weighted cluster points to select the candidates to the various courses. The raw cluster points are made up of the individual subjects that are required to study for a certain course. For instance, if one wanted to study medicine, the raw cluster points would be made up of English/Kiswahili, Biology, Chemistry and Math/Physics. The maximum raw cluster points are 48 whereas the maximum weighted cluster points are also 48. If you score all As, no doubt your weighted cluster points will be 48. Now, if the overall aggregate points and the raw cluster points start reducing, the weighted cluster points will also begin reducing.

Each course has a minimum weighted cluster point that a candidate should have in order to pursue the course. For instance, weighted cluster point for medicine and actuarial science usually hovers at around 47.7. If you are have not been able to meet the weighted cluster point for the first choice, the Joint Admissions Board (JAB), will simply move on until your last choice to allocate you some course. If after that they haven’t assigned a course to you yet, the Joint Admissions Board will invite the candidates over for the second revision so that the final list of candidates to various courses and public Kenyan Universities can be prepared. It is only then that JAB will publish the final list of the selected candidates to various courses.

The overall aggregate points are the points that you get for all the seven subjects taken in KCSE. Of course some candidates do more than seven subjects but only seven subjects are required for the overall aggregate points. The aggregate points are written on the results slip. For instance, Grade A starts from an aggregate of 81 points.

The raw cluster points on the other hand are the four subjects that are deemed the most crucial for the study of a course. For instance, if one wanted to study electrical engineering, then the raw cluster points would be made up of Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology/ Geography or any of the group subjects. The maximum raw cluster point is 48.

 

The weighted cluster points are derivative of the overall points and the raw cluster ones. If you scored an overall point of 84 and you got a raw cluster point of 48, then your weighted cluster point will be 48. The weighted cluster points then begin dropping as your overall points and the raw cluster points keep on reducing. Due to the high competition for the limited courses, the weighted cluster points needed to enrol in courses has been increasing over the years. For instance, if one wanted to enrol for a degree of medicine as a regular student, they would have to score a weighted cluster point of about 47.7.

Weighted Cluster Points for Kenyan Universities

The Joint University Board select students to study various courses in a Kenyan university by use of a formula called the weighted cluster points. The points are arrived at by computing the overall aggregate points against the raw cluster points needed in order to study a course in a university in Kenya. The maximum aggregate points that one can score is 84 whereas the maximum raw cluster points that one can score is 48. The raw cluster points are composed of the subjects that are most relevant to the study of a particular course. For instance, if one wanted to study medicine, the raw cluster points would be composed of English/Kiswahili, Maths/Physics, Biology and Chemistry. The maximum weighted cluster points are 48 and as the aggregate points and the raw cluster points keep reducing, it keeps reducing to 47.7 and so forth. Note that the more competitive the course, the higher the weighted cluster points. For instance, the weighted cluster points for Medicine, Actuarial science and Electrical engineering have been the highest in recent years. This indicates that these courses are the most competitive in the Kenyan public Universities.

The Joint Admissions Board has given prospective students the opportunity to revise their choices, where they did not score sufficiently to place them in the course of their choice. For the 2010 candidates the second revision took place at the University of Nairobi (UON) Main campus. Many students felt cheated. First, they had to revise their degree choices for the second time and at a cost. Secondly they were choosing something that was originally not their first choice. A student who thought he qualified to take a BSc degree was shocked to find out that the only choice left was BA degree. Some students who find themselves under this category often opt to take the course at the middle level.

Since you are unlikely to get funds from the higher Education Loans Board (HELB) for a certificate or diploma course, you will sadly be compelled to take the course thrust to you. All is not lost. You should see the undergraduate degree tossed to you as a stepping stone to greater things. You can pursue whichever career matches your talents and interests later. Much learning happens in class as outside class. At the university you will interact with students from various backgrounds which in itself is a learning experience, perhaps much more than you can ever get to learn in class.