Candidates of the 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination faced frustration on Thursday afternoon after being unable to access their results online. The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) website, which was expected to facilitate access to individual results, went down shortly after Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba announced the release.
Speaking at a press briefing minutes past noon, Ogamba assured the public that candidates could access their results via the official KNEC website, https://resullts.knec.ac.ke. Additionally, he provided two toll-free helpline numbers 0800724900 and 0800721410 for those experiencing difficulties. However, almost immediately after the announcement, the website became inaccessible.
Users attempting to check their results were met with error messages such as “This page isn’t working” and “This site can’t be reached.” The helpline numbers provided were also unavailable, with calls failing to connect due to high traffic.
This marked a significant departure from previous years when candidates accessed their results via SMS by sending their index numbers to a designated KNEC short code. The change to an online platform was anticipated to offer seamless and faster access but has instead resulted in widespread complaints.
Similar technical glitches occurred during the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results release. At the time, candidates trying to retrieve their results via SMS received responses stating the results were “not available” even hours after the announcement by the then-Education CS Ezekiel Machogu.
Despite this year’s disruptions, KNEC has yet to issue an official statement addressing the website failure or provide clarity on when the issue will be resolved. Candidates and parents have expressed frustration, citing inadequate preparation for the high traffic on the system.
As the situation unfolds, affected candidates are encouraged to remain patient and attempt to access their results later. The recurring technical challenges highlight the need for KNEC to enhance its infrastructure to ensure a reliable and user-friendly experience for future examinations.
