More than one million candidates sit down today for the main written papers of the 2026 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations, which run from today, Monday 2 November, to Friday 20 November.

The Kenya National Examinations Council has registered 1,048,355 candidates, the first time the candidature has passed one million, up from 996,078 in 2025, People Daily reported.

Day one is English Paper 1 (Functional Skills) at 8:00am, followed by Chemistry Paper 1 at 2:00pm.

Candidates woke up to fresh instructions from KNEC, released on Sunday 1 November. Examination containers must be opened at 7am. All mobile phones within examination centres must be switched off and kept in lockable lockers outside the examination rooms. Centre managers must keep an approved weekly list of authorised personnel, each presenting an original national identity card. And no candidate may wear a wristwatch of any kind inside the examination room — centre managers are to provide wall clocks in every room.

"All mobile phones in the examination centre must be switched off then kept in a lockable locker outside the examination room when the examination session is on," the KNEC statement said, as reported by Hivi Leo. "No wristwatches of any kind for candidates in the examination room. Centre managers to provide wall clocks in every room," it added.

Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, speaking in Siaya on Saturday 31 October, warned parents and teachers against paying fraudsters promising leaked papers. "Please don't fall into the trap of those who want to make quick money by lying to you that they will steal examinations for you," he said, according to People Daily's report. The government says more than 100,000 teachers have been recruited for the exercise.

Oral, practical and low-candidature papers began on 19 October. This is the second-last KCSE under the 8-4-4 system, with the final cohort sitting in 2027.

What we could not verify: any leak or fraud case this year; any centre-level incident today; the exact number of examination centres. No photographs from today's papers were found — the cover is an honestly captioned file photo from an earlier examination.

SOURCES:

- People Daily, 1 November 2026, 09:03 EAT (candidate numbers, day-one papers, Omollo warning): https://peopledaily.digital/news/raymond-omollo-warns-parents-teachers-against-kcse-exam-cheating-as-written-papers-begin

- People Daily, 1 November 2026, 18:13 EAT (KNEC fresh instructions, read in full): https://peopledaily.digital/news/knec-issues-fresh-instructions-as-2026-kcse-exams-enter-week-3

- Hivi Leo, 1 November 2026 (KNEC statement wording, phones/watches/containers): https://www.hivileo.co.ke/kcse-2026-knec-issues-3-rules-on-phones-watches-and-exam-papers

- KBC, 1 November 2026 (second-last KCSE under 8-4-4; malpractice warning): https://www.kbc.co.ke/kcse-govt-warns-teachers-parents-against-exam-malpractice/