If you have searched for "KICD curriculum designs" this term, you are not alone. With Grade 10 rolling out in senior school and the rationalised designs now in full use from pre-primary to junior school, parents and teachers are flooding to find the right document, in the right version, for the right grade. The problem is rarely finding a design. It is knowing which version you actually need, where to get it free, and what to do with the 40-plus pages once you open them.
This guide pulls the whole picture together: what a curriculum design is, how the 2024 rationalisation changed things, the learning areas for every level, where to download each one free from KICD, and, most importantly, how to turn that document into real lessons, schemes and revision at home or in class.
Key Takeaways
- A curriculum design is KICD's official syllabus for one learning area at one grade; it lists strands, sub-strands, learning outcomes, suggested experiences and assessment guidance.
- The rationalised designs (from 2024) cut the number of learning areas to reduce overload; junior school dropped to 9 learning areas.
- Designs are free to download from the KICD website; you should never pay for the document itself.
- The real work is using the design: building schemes of work, lesson plans and assessments from it, which is where most parents and teachers get stuck.
- This article links you to the free designs and to ready-made, KICD-aligned schemes and exams so you do not start from a blank page.
Information current as of Term 2, 2026.
What Is a KICD Curriculum Design?
A curriculum design is the official document the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) publishes for each learning area at each grade. Think of it as the master blueprint a teacher is required to follow. One design typically covers a single learning area (say, Grade 7 Mathematics) for the full year and sets out:
- Strands (the big themes, the CBC term that replaced "topics")
- Sub-strands (the smaller units within each strand)
- Specific learning outcomes (what the learner should be able to do)
- Suggested learning experiences (the activities)
- Key inquiry questions (the questions that drive each lesson)
- Assessment guidance and the core competencies, values and pertinent issues to embed
Glossary: Strand = a major theme in a learning area. Sub-strand = a unit within a strand. CBA = Competency-Based Assessment. Learning area = the CBC term for a subject.
Everything downstream, schemes of work, lesson plans, exams, rubrics, is built from this design. That is why getting the correct, current version matters so much. If you would like a plain-language walkthrough of how the document is laid out, our teachers' guide on how to read a KICD curriculum design breaks down every column.
The 2024 Rationalisation: What Changed and Which Version You Need
The single biggest source of confusion right now is the old versus rationalised designs. In 2022 to 2024, KICD reviewed the curriculum to reduce content overload; the number of learning areas learners carried was widely reported as too high. The result was a leaner, "rationalised" set of designs.
| Level | Before rationalisation | Rationalised (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Primary (PP1 to PP2) | 5 activity areas | 5 activity areas (unchanged) |
| Lower Primary (Grade 1 to 3) | up to 7 | reduced, streamlined |
| Upper Primary (Grade 4 to 6) | up to 12 | 9 learning areas |
| Junior School (Grade 7 to 9) | up to 14 | 9 learning areas |
| Senior School (Grade 10 to 12) | new level | 4 compulsory + 3 electives |
The practical takeaway: if your design was downloaded before 2024, it may be out of date. Subject names also changed (for example, at junior school, Business Studies folded into Pre-Technical Studies). Using an old design means teaching strands that are no longer examinable. We cover exactly what moved in old vs revised KICD curriculum designs: what changed in 2024 so you can check your copy in two minutes.
Curriculum Designs by Level: The Learning Areas for Each Grade
Here is the factual structure of the rationalised designs, level by level, so you know exactly how many designs to look for.
Pre-Primary (PP1 and PP2)
Five activity areas, all play- and activity-based, with no formal exams (assessment is by observation and portfolio):
- Language Activities
- Mathematical Activities
- Environmental Activities
- Psychomotor and Creative Activities
- Religious Education Activities
Upper Primary (Grade 4 to 6)
Nine learning areas: English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies, Agriculture, Home Science, Creative Arts, and Religious Education.
Junior School (Grade 7 to 9)
Nine rationalised learning areas, all compulsory, no optional tier: English, Kiswahili (or Kenyan Sign Language), Mathematics, Integrated Science, Social Studies, Pre-Technical Studies, Agriculture, Creative Arts and Sports, and Religious Education.
Senior School (Grade 10 to 12)
A different structure: 4 compulsory subjects (English, Kiswahili/KSL, Mathematics, Community Service Learning) plus 3 electives chosen from one of three pathways, STEM, Social Sciences, or Arts and Sports Science. We explain the full pathway map in KICD Grade 10 senior school curriculum designs: all 3 pathways explained.
For a grade-by-grade deep dive, see our walkthroughs for Grade 9's 9 learning areas and the Grade 8 design with a term-by-term reading guide.
Where to Download the Designs Free (and Why You Should Never Pay for Them)
The curriculum designs are public documents. KICD publishes them on its official portal, and they are free. You can find every grade's designs on the KICD curriculum designs page.
Steps to get the right one:
- Go to the KICD curriculum designs section.
- Select the level (pre-primary, lower primary, upper primary, junior school, senior school).
- Choose the grade, then the learning area.
- Confirm it is the rationalised/revised version before downloading.
- Save the PDF and note the version date.
If a website is charging you money for the design document itself, walk away; you are paying for something KICD gives away. What is genuinely worth paying for is the work built on top of the design, which we cover next.
How to Actually Use a Curriculum Design (The Part Nobody Explains)
Downloading the design is step one. The reason most parents and teachers feel stuck is that a design tells you what to teach, not how to plan, deliver and assess it across a 12- or 13-week term. Here is the workflow that turns a design into a working term.
- Map the strands to the term. Spread the strands and sub-strands across the available weeks. This becomes your scheme of work.
- Break each sub-strand into lessons. Each lesson needs one or two learning outcomes, a key inquiry question, an activity and a resource, that is your lesson plan.
- Plan assessment as you go. CBC assessment is continuous: observation, written tasks, projects and portfolio evidence, scored against the four performance levels (BE, AE, ME, EE).
- Build revision and exams from the same strands. Your end-of-term exam should test the exact sub-strands the design lists, nothing more, nothing less.
Worked example, Grade 7 Mathematics: the design lists "Algebra" as a strand and "Linear Equations" as a sub-strand. Your scheme allocates it to (say) Week 3. Your lesson plan for Week 3 Lesson 1 sets the outcome "form and solve a simple linear equation", with the key inquiry question "how do we find an unknown number?" Your term exam then includes two linear-equation questions. One design line has become a week of teaching and a set of marks.
Worked example, Grade 4 Science and Technology: the design lists "Living Things" as a strand and "Plants" as a sub-strand, with the outcome "describe the parts of a plant and their functions". You allocate it to Week 1, plan a practical lesson where learners label a real plant and investigate what a leaf needs, set the key inquiry question "why do plants need sunlight?", and assess it with a labelled drawing for the portfolio. The same sub-strand then appears as a structured question in the end-of-term exam. Notice how the design's wording feeds directly into the outcome, the activity, the assessment and the exam, this is the through-line most people miss.
This is exactly the work we have already done for you. Instead of building schemes and exams from scratch, you can download KICD-aligned, ready-to-use schemes of work and exams from our shop, available grade by grade for Grade 4 through Grade 10, with pre-primary activity schemes for PP1 and PP2 too.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using a pre-2024 design. You will teach strands that are no longer examinable. Always confirm the rationalised version.
- Paying for the design document. It is free from KICD. Pay only for value added on top (schemes, lesson plans, notes, exams).
- Mixing CBC and IGCSE. They are entirely different systems with different designs and grading; never plan from the wrong one. If you are on the Cambridge track, start at our IGCSE hub instead.
- Treating the design as a lesson plan. It is a blueprint, not a ready lesson; you still have to break it into weeks and lessons.
- Ignoring the assessment column. The design tells you how each sub-strand should be assessed; skipping it means your exams drift off-syllabus.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a curriculum design and a scheme of work? The design is KICD's master syllabus for a learning area. A scheme of work is your plan that spreads that design's strands across the weeks of a term. You build the scheme from the design.
Are KICD curriculum designs free? Yes. They are official public documents available free on the KICD website. You should never pay for the design document itself.
How do I know if I have the rationalised version? Check the publication year and the number of learning areas. If a junior school design shows more than nine learning areas, or was downloaded before 2024, it is likely the old version.
Do PP1 and PP2 have exams? No. Pre-primary is activity-based and assessed through observation and portfolios, not formal written exams. The designs reflect this.
Which curriculum designs do I need for senior school? Every Grade 10 learner needs the four compulsory designs (English, Kiswahili/KSL, Mathematics, Community Service Learning) plus the designs for their three chosen pathway subjects.
Can I use one design for the whole school? No. There is a separate design per learning area per grade. A school needs the full set for every grade and subject it offers.
Where can I get schemes and exams already made from these designs? Our shop has KICD-aligned schemes of work and exams by grade and term, so you do not have to build them from the design yourself.
Conclusion
The curriculum design is the foundation of every CBC lesson, but it is only a blueprint. Download the correct, rationalised version free from KICD, confirm it matches your grade and the 2024 review, then do the real work: turn its strands into a scheme, its sub-strands into lessons, and its assessment guidance into fair exams. If you would rather skip the blank page, our KICD-aligned schemes, lesson plans and exams are built directly from these designs, grade by grade.
Looking for ready-made, KICD-aligned schemes and exams? Download them by grade at cbcedukenya.com, from KSH 100.
Get instant answers to any CBC curriculum question with Somo, our AI tutor. Try it at cbcedukenya.com/somo-ai, KSH 300/month, 30 questions per day.
Further Reading
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