The rehearsal is Friday 23 October. KPSEA runs 26 to 28 October and KJSEA 26 to 30 October, with the first session at 8.30am.
Almost nothing that goes wrong in exam week is academic. It is a blunt pencil, a forgotten assessment number, or a child who left home forty minutes too late. All of it is fixable the night before, and none of it is fixable at 8.25am.
This guide is for parents of Grade 6 and Grade 9 learners. It covers what to pack, what not to send, how to run the morning, what to do between papers, and the one check that matters more than any last minute revision.
What to pack, the night before
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Two HB pencils, already sharpened | Points break. A blunt pencil shades slowly and costs time on a multiple choice sheet |
| A clean eraser | A hard or dirty eraser smears rather than lifts, which creates the double-shaded row that reads as no answer |
| A small sharpener | Cheaper than the minutes lost without one |
| Two blue or black pens | For written papers. One will fail at the worst moment |
| A ruler | Doubles as a line guide down the answer sheet |
| Calculator, for KJSEA Mathematics 903 only | Allowed in that paper. Check the batteries |
| The assessment number | Written down, not remembered |
| Water and something small to eat | Two papers in one morning is a long time for a child |
Make the packing the child's job
Pack with your child, not for them. Lay the items out on the table, let them check each one against the list, and let them put everything into the pouch. A child who packed their own kit knows where the spare pencil is when the first one breaks. A child whose parent packed it has to search.
Do it every night of exam week, not just Sunday. Pencils get used, erasers get lost, and pens get borrowed by a friend who forgot theirs.
What will be taken at the door
- Phones and smart watches. Leave them at home rather than arguing at the gate.
- Notes of any kind, including on a hand, a ruler or a pencil case.
- Bags in most centres. Carry the equipment loose or in a clear pouch.
Check your own centre's instructions rather than assuming. They vary, and the school will have told you, usually in a message that is easy to miss.
Look at the equipment itself before it goes. A ruler with formulae printed on it, a pencil case with writing inside the lid, or a calculator cover with notes scribbled on it can all cause a delay at the door, even when the child meant nothing by it. A plain ruler and a clear pouch remove the problem.
The rehearsal day
Friday 23 October is the rehearsal. Treat it as a real morning: same alarm, same breakfast, same route, same arrival time. It is the best chance to find out that the journey takes longer than you thought, or that the pouch is missing something, while there is still a weekend to fix it.
Ask your child afterwards what they were told: where they sit, which door to use, what time to arrive, and whether anything is not allowed. Write it down. Children often come home with half the instructions, and the other half matters on Monday.
The morning itself
Aim to arrive a clear thirty minutes early. Traffic on a Monday morning in exam week is worse than usual precisely because every other family is doing the same thing.
Eat something. A child who skips breakfast because of nerves loses concentration in the last half hour of a 1 hour 40 paper, which is exactly where the harder questions sit.
Do not test them in the car. Nothing learned in the last ten minutes will be recalled, and a question they get wrong on the way in does real damage to their confidence.
A simple exam morning routine
| When | What |
|---|---|
| The night before | Pack the pouch together, set out uniform, early bedtime |
| On waking | Wash, dress, breakfast, no phones or revision |
| Before leaving | Child checks the pouch one last time, including the assessment number |
| Journey | Talk about anything except the exam |
| At the gate | A short, calm goodbye. "Do your best, I will see you later" is enough |
Between the two papers
On Monday and Tuesday of KPSEA, and on several KJSEA days, there is a second paper after a break. That gap is for water, food and quiet. It is not for comparing answers with friends, which reliably convinces a child they have failed a paper they did perfectly well in.
Say this to your child before the week starts, so it does not sound like a telling off later: the first paper is finished, nothing can change it, and the only paper that matters now is the next one.
After each day
- Ask how they feel, not what they got. Going through a finished paper question by question rarely helps and often upsets.
- Look at tomorrow's timetable together. Know which papers are coming and what equipment each needs, such as the calculator for 903.
- Keep the evening light. A short look over key points for the next paper, then rest. Our paper by paper timetable suggests what to look at the night before each one.
The one thing worth doing this week instead
School Based Assessment is 40 per cent of the KJSEA grade and it was banked months ago. Confirming with the class teacher that every score was submitted is worth more than any amount of last minute revision. See the 40 per cent nobody checks.
For the papers themselves, our paper by paper timetable sets out what each day holds, and the shading guide covers the answer sheet, where earned marks are most often lost. The official KNEC calendar has the full schedule for both exams.
Frequently asked questions
Can my child carry a calculator to every paper?
No. The calculator is for KJSEA Mathematics 903 only. Pack it on that day and leave it at home on the others, so there is nothing to explain at the door.
What if we lose the assessment number?
Contact the school as early as possible, ideally before exam week begins. This is exactly why it should be written down and kept in the pouch, with a copy at home.
My child is very nervous on exam mornings. What helps?
Routine. The same breakfast, the same route, the same goodbye each day. Avoid quizzing them, keep the talk ordinary, and remind them that they only have to do the paper in front of them.
Is it worth doing heavy revision during exam week?
Not much. Light review of the next day's paper and a good night's sleep do more than late night cramming. The work that counts was done in the weeks before.
The KJSEA Complete Revision Course covers the final weeks of preparation across all nine learning areas, and the KPSEA Complete Revision Course does the same for Grade 6.
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 15 days to the national assessments on 26 October. Start now.
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