KUCCPS doesn’t just look at your overall KCSE grade. They use cluster points, a system that measures your performance in key subjects for each course, to decide who gets into which university or college
The Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) uses cluster points to make university and college placements fair and competitive.
Instead of relying solely on your overall KCSE mean grade, cluster points focus on the subjects that matter most for your chosen course.
Each degree, diploma, or certificate programme has a set of required subjects, also called a subject cluster. For example, engineering courses weigh heavily on Mathematics and Sciences, while arts and humanities courses focus more on languages and social sciences. KUCCPS picks the best performance from these key subjects to calculate cluster points.
Next, your raw scores in the relevant subjects are converted into standardized cluster points.
This accounts for differences in subject difficulty and national performance trends, so all students are compared fairly.
A high cluster point indicates strong performance in the subjects that matter most for a specific course.
Once points are calculated, students are ranked from highest to lowest for each programme. Placement is based on this ranking and the number of slots available at each institution.
This means the student with the highest cluster points usually secures a spot in competitive courses first.
Cut-off cluster points are not fixed they change each year depending on student performance, number of applicants, and the number of spaces available.
KUCCPS also considers your listed course preferences. If you don’t meet the cut-off for your top choice, the system moves down your list until a suitable placement is found.
This system applies to degree, diploma, and certificate programmes, with cluster subjects adjusted to match course requirements.
It ensures students are placed where they are academically prepared, while also balancing merit, equity, and institutional capacity.
By using cluster points, KUCCPS keeps the placement process transparent, fair, and focused on putting students in programmes that match their skills and potential.
