Who this is for
- Grade 9 candidates sitting KJSEA 2026 in Creative Arts and Sports, and parents marking at home.
- KJSEA runs from Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026, opening with English. The rehearsal is on Friday 23 October. The day of the Creative Arts and Sports paper is on the official KJSEA and KPSEA 2026 calendar.
- Below are 10 original questions across visual arts, music, performance and sports, with worked answers. Allow about 35 minutes.
Creative Arts and Sports is a wide learning area, and that is the main problem when revising it: a learner who is strong in football may know little about time signatures, and a talented artist may not know the rules of a relay. The written paper does not care which part a learner enjoys. It asks a mix of short questions, so the safest way to revise is a little of every part, with attention on the questions that ask the learner to explain or apply rather than just name.
These are practice questions written by CBC Edu Kenya in the competency style of the Grade 7 to 9 design. They are not a KNEC paper and not a leaked paper.
What this set covers
| Part | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Music | 1, 8 | 3 |
| Visual arts and design | 2, 3, 10 | 5 |
| Sports and physical activity | 4, 5, 6, 7 | 10 |
| Performance (dance) | 9 | 2 |
| Total | 20 | |
KJSEA 2026 Creative Arts and Sports sample questions
Grade 9 Creative Arts and Sports practice · about 35 minutes · answer all questions
1. A song is written in 3/4 time. How many crotchet beats are there in each bar?
A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 6
2. On the colour wheel, which colour is the complementary colour of red?
A. Orange B. Purple C. Green D. Yellow
3. In a one-point perspective drawing of a straight road, where do the edges of the road meet? (1 mark)
4. In a 4 × 100 m relay, where must the baton be passed from one runner to the next?
A. Anywhere on the track B. Inside the changeover zone C. Only at the finish line D. Before the start line
5. How many players from one volleyball team are on the court during play?
A. 5 B. 6 C. 7 D. 11
6. Name two components of physical fitness and, for each, one activity that improves it. (4 marks)
7. During a football match, a player twists his ankle. It swells but he can still move his toes. Describe the first aid steps using the RICE method. (4 marks)
8. (a) How many crotchet beats is a dotted minim worth? (b) Write one combination of notes that fills a bar of 4/4 using a dotted minim. (2 marks)
9. Give two ways in which costumes and props help a Kenyan folk dance performance. (2 marks)
10. The school is holding a sports day. List three things a good poster for the event must have. (3 marks)
Stop here until the time is up. The worked answers start below.
Worked answers and marking guide
1. B, 3. The top number of a time signature gives the number of beats in a bar, and the bottom number 4 tells you the beat is a crotchet. So 3/4 has three crotchet beats per bar, the feel of a waltz. (1 mark)
2. C, green. Complementary colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. Red and green are a pair, as are blue and orange, and yellow and purple. Placed side by side they make each other look brighter. (1 mark)
3. At the vanishing point on the horizon line (1 mark). In one-point perspective, lines going away from the viewer all meet at a single point on the eye level line. Learners who say "at the top of the page" lose the mark.
4. B, inside the changeover zone. A pass made outside the zone leads to disqualification of the team. This is why relay teams practise the hand-over, not just the running. (1 mark)
5. B, 6. Each volleyball team has six players on the court. Netball has seven and football has eleven. (1 mark)
6. One mark for each component and one for a matching activity, for example: endurance, by jogging or skipping for a longer time; strength, by push-ups or sit-ups; flexibility, by stretching exercises; speed, by short sprints. Award no mark for an activity that does not match the component named.
7. One mark for each step explained:
- Rest: stop playing and keep weight off the ankle.
- Ice: apply something cold, wrapped in a cloth, for short periods to reduce swelling.
- Compression: wrap the ankle firmly, not tightly, with a bandage.
- Elevation: raise the leg above the level of the heart.
Listing the four words alone earns less than explaining each one. If the pain is severe or the player cannot move the foot, an adult should take them for medical help.
8. (a) Three crotchet beats. The dot adds half the note's value: a minim is 2, half of 2 is 1, so 2 + 1 = 3 (1 mark). (b) A dotted minim plus one crotchet, which makes 3 + 1 = 4 beats (1 mark). A dotted minim plus two quavers is also correct.
9. Any two, 1 mark each: they show which community the dance comes from; they help tell the story or show the occasion, such as a harvest or a wedding; some props, such as shakers or bells, add sound and rhythm; they make the performance more attractive to the audience.
10. Any three, 1 mark each: a clear title naming the event; the date, time and venue; a picture or drawing related to sport; large, easy-to-read lettering; colours that stand out from a distance. A poster with no date or venue fails at its main job.
Reading the score
The set is worth 20 marks. Sixteen or more is strong. If the losses are in Questions 1, 2, 3 and 8, the learner needs short, daily reminders of facts about notes and colour; one card per evening is enough. If they are in 6, 7, 9 and 10, the learner is naming instead of explaining. Our guide to revising KJSEA Creative Arts and Sports goes through each part in more detail.
Full Creative Arts and Sports papers with answers
The KJSEA Grade 9 Complete Revision Course includes full Creative Arts and Sports notes for Grades 7 to 9, predictive papers and a separate answer booklet, with the same for all nine KJSEA learning areas. It is KSH 400, downloaded straight after M-Pesa payment. There is also a Creative Arts and Sports course on its own.
Frequently asked questions
When is KJSEA 2026?
Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026, with English first. The rehearsal is on Friday 23 October. The official calendar lists the day of every paper.
My child is good at sport but weak in music. What should we revise first?
The weaker part. Questions are spread across the learning area, so a few evenings on note values and time signatures will usually add more marks than more sport.
Are these the questions that will come?
No. They are original practice questions in the same style. Nobody can honestly sell the real paper before the exam.
Grade 9 KJSEA Complete Revision Course
All 9 learning areas in one download: notes, worked examples, topical questions and full marking schemes. Rebuilt for the 26 to 30 October assessment.
⏳ Only 21 days to the national assessments on 26 October. Start now.
KSH 400 · Get it now → 📱 M-Pesa, sent to your email after payment · join parents preparing nowHave a CBC question this article didn't answer?
Ask Somo, Kenya's first AI tutor. CBC-grounded, Kenyan examples, instant feedback. Five free questions a day with no signup, or start a 7-day free trial for 30 questions a day.
Try Somo Free →