Admission Policy

Starehe Boys’ Centre accepts 256 pupils per year, into seven classes of 36 students each.

All applications are considered by the Admission team, comprising:

• The Director
• The Principal
• The Senior Master for Admissions (who heads up the Admissions Office)
• The Senior Master of Form I
• Representative of the Old Stareheain Society

The criteria for Admission to Form I are:

• All candidates must be aged 16 or under, and make Starehe their first choice of National Secondary School

• All candidates must complete the official Form I application form, and return it to Starehe by 31st July of the year they are sitting their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams – and they must go on to gain a good KCPE pass

• Candidates seeking a free place must also have their family and home circumstances verified by their District Officer or local Chief, and a Minister of Religion, such as a Priest or Imam

 70% of Form I places are reserved for needy boys from severely disadvantaged family backgrounds – all accepted as boarders.

30% of places are for fee-paying students, who may choose to board – depending on vacancies.

 Need is assessed on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 8 (highest), for example:

• 8 – A ‘total orphan’ – with no extended family able to send him to an ordinary secondary school.
• 7 – A boy whose father is dead or incapacitated, and whose mother and extended family have no means to assist him.
• 6 – A boy whose mother is dead or incapacitated, and whose father and extended family have no means to assist him.
• 5 – A boy whose parents are still alive but extremely poor, with no reliable source of income.

Boys are also graded according to age, from the highest priority of Grade 8 at 13 years, to the lowest of Grade 5 at 16 years.

 After grading, the remaining forms are grouped per province and district, to make sure that each province is represented.

After the KCPE marking in November, individual applications are further considered by the Admissions team – with much discussion and debate before final agreement is reached.

Unfortunately, due to the multi-storey nature of the school dormitories, it is not currently possible to accept boys with a severe physical disability.

-Starehe Application- Yellow Form