Best Secondary Schools in Kenya
List of all IGCSE schools in Kenya and all best Secondary Schools in Kenya There are many secondary schools in the country and the number keeps increasing with time. Here is a comprehensive list of top 100 best secondary schools in Kenya, their addresses (postal and physical), contacts (telephone and e-mail) and a link to the top secondary schools in Kenya websites.
Here are some of the best secondary schools in the country.
Alliance High School
Alliance High School (or AHS) popularly known as “Bush”, was the first school in Kenya to offer secondary school education to Africans. It was founded on 1 March 1926 by the Alliance of Protestant Churches – The Church of Scotland Mission (later known as the Presbyterian Church of East Africa or PCEA), Church of the Province of Kenya (CPK), African Inland Church (AIC), and the Methodist Church.
Precious Blood Riruta
Precious Blood Riruta is a public girls boarding school, Kawangware location, Nairobi County.The Catholic nuns of the order of Precious Blood Sisters established the school in 1964. Its enrolment was meant for children of indigenous from the immediate vicinity of Kawangware, Riruta and Uthiru, who had been adversely affected by the Mau-Mau struggle.
Bahati Girls Secondary School
Bahati Girls Secondary School is a girls only boarding school located in Nakuru County.The school has experienced excellent performance over the years in Kenya National examination. The school, is driven by the slogan “Knowledge in Virtue” that means our students grow all round.The school endeavor to become the best in the country and in the region with exemplary performance and production of all rounded individuals.
Maranda High School
Maranda High School is a centre of academic excellence not only in Siaya County but in the country at large. All of us who went through the system are indeed proud to be associated with this great institution.
Alliance Girls High School
Alliance Girls High School is a national girls’ boarding school located near the small town of Kikuyu in the Kiambu County of the Central Province of Kenya, 20 km from Nairobi Town. It is within walking distance from its brother school Alliance High School.
Moi High School Kabarak
Moi High School Kabarak is a mixed boarding school located along Nakuru – Eldama Ravine Road in Nakuru County. Moi High School-Kabarak was founded in 1979 by Daniel Arap Moi on his expansive Kabarak farm.
The Kenya High School
The Kenya High School is a Girls Public National School situated in Nairobi Kenya. It is located on Kileleshwa hill, off Mandera road, which is about 7 km from the City center.
Moi Girls High School Eldoret
Moi Girls High School Eldoret is a National Girls’ boarding school managed by the school’s board of management. It is a Christian non – denominational school providing the secondary cycle of the 8-4-4 system of education. Every form has six streams. For the purpose of more effective teaching, the form three and four classes are redistributed, each to make 7 streams of almost equal numbers.
Strathmore School
Strathmore School is a private, independent, boys’ day school located in Nairobi Kenya that follows the 8-4-4 curriculum. Strathmore was started as a Sixth Form college in March 1961. In 1977 the first Form One students were admitted, and in 1987 the first Standard One pupils.
Starehe Girls Centre School
Starehe Girls Centre is a National boarding school that offers secondary education to purely financially disadvantaged girls from all provinces of Kenya. The school was founded in January 2005 as a charitable institution.
Starehe Boys Centre
Starehe Boys Centre and School (popularly known as “Starehe”) is a partial – board, boys – only school in Nairobi Kenya. The school was founded in 1959 by Dr. Geoffrey William Griffin, MBS, OBE, Geoffrey Gatama Geturo and Joseph Kamiru Gikubu. It started as a rescue centre.
For more information please visit: Starehe Boys Centre
Kianda School
Kianda School is a private, all-girls day school with a Catholic ethos located in the Westlands area of Nairobi County. The school was opened in 1977 by The Kianda Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to better Kenyan women’s lives through education and Christian values.
Mang’u High School
Mang’u High School is a Kenyan roman catholic boys boarding national school established in 1925. The school is located in Kiambu County along the Nairobi-Thika Highway six kilometers from Thika Town. Mang’u High School is ranked among the top schools nationwide in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and has many eminent alumni including the former president of Kenya H.E Mwai Kibaki , former vice president Moody Awori, the late John Michuki, Kipruto Arap kirwa among others. Mang’u High School sits on a 22 acres piece of land .
Utumishi Academy
Utumishi Academy – Utumishi Boys Academy is a Boys only Kenyan National School founded in 1993 largely by the Kenya Police Force to provide quality high school education to young Kenyans from all over the country. As stated in the school motto, they are focused on achieving Excellence and Honour.
Chogoria Girls High School
Chogoria Girls High School is a National girls’ school, situated in Tharaka Nithi County, Maara District, Mwimbi Division, Chogoria location, on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya. It is 200km North of Nairobi and 40km south of Meru Town.
Loreto High School Limuru
Loreto High School Limuru is an all girls’ National School located in Karambaini, in the green highlands of Limuru, Kiambu County, Central Kenya approximately 28 km /45 minutes from the capital city, Nairobi Kenya.
Pangani Girls High School
Pangani Girls High School is a girls national secondary school locate along Juja road in Nairobi County.
Friends School Kamusinga
Friends School Kamusinga, an academic and extra-curricular activities giant in Kenya, owes its consistent and stellar performance to a hard working culture, discipline, mutual understanding and assistance between the staff, students, community, old boys of the school and the school’s leadership organs (the Board of Governors (BOG) and Parents Teachers Association (PTA)).
1Sacho High School
Sacho High School is a mixed boarding school, located in Sacho Mosop location, Baringo County. Sacho High School was established in 1982 by His Excellency the Second President of the Republic of Kenya, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, C.G.H. For further information please see the school contacts below.
Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls
Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls was founded in the 1960s by the late Bishop Caesar Gatimu and was run by the Comboni mission in Karatina, Nyeri Town. It initially took the name of the area where it was situated, i.e. Ngandu Girls’ High School, and the name was later changed to honor its founder.
Top 100 Best Secondary Schools in Kenya
1 MAASAI HIGH SCHOOL
2 MARY MOTHER OF GRACE BOYS SEC. SCHOOL
3 MOI TEA GIRLS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL
4 MOLO ACADEMY
5 ST. MARY’S BOYS SEC SCHOOL
6 NAIROBI SCHOOL
7 KANGA HIGH SCHOOL
8 ANESTAR BOYS SEC. SCHOOL
9 MARY MOUNT SEC SCH
10 RONGAI SECONDARY SCHOOL
11 ST. JOSEPH’S RAPOGI SEC SCHOOL
12 KARIMA GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
13 ST. FRANCIS RANG’ALA GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
14 MARYHILL SCHOOL THIKA
15 CHEMELIL SUGAR ACADEMY
16 ST. ANNES SEC. SCHOOL LIOKI
17 KYENI GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
18 NYERI HIGH SCHOOL
19 KAPLONG GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
20 MOI FORCES ACADEMY LANET
21 MURANG’A HIGH SCHOOL
22 KAPSABET BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL
23 PRECIOUS BLOOD SEC SCH KILUNGU
24 BUNYORE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
25 KISIMA MIXED SECONDARY SCHOOL
26 MASENO SCHOOL
27 LENANA SCHOOL
28 MOI HIGH SCHOOL MBIRURI
29 SEGERO SDA SECONDARY SCHOOL
30 MUTHALE GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
31 KABARE GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
32 LIMURU GIRLS SCHOOL
33 SUNSHINE SECONDARY SCHOOL
34 ST. PATRICK’S SENIOR SCHOOL
35 LITEIN HIGH SCHOOL
36 ST. JOSEPH SEMINARY SEC. SCHOOL
37 NYANDARUA HIGH SCHOOL
38 CHOGORIA GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
39 THIKA HIGH SCHOOL
40 SINGORE GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL
41 NAIVASHA GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
42 KANJURI HIGH SCHOOL
43 BOOKER ACADEMY
44 ST PETER’S SEMINARY
45 SAWAGONGO HIGH SCHOOL
46 NJIIRI SCHOOL
47 ST CHARLES LWANGA SECONDARY SCHOOL
48 KIBABII HIGH SCHOOL
49 KABIANGA HIGH SCHOOL
50 LUGULU GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
51 ST MARY’S GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL IGOJI
52 KIAMBU HIGH SCHOOL
53 MOI GIRLS SCHOOL NAIROBI
54 ORERO SEC SCHOOL
55 JUJA PREPARATORY AND SENIOR SCHOOL
56 MOI FORCES ACADEMY
57 NYANG’ORI BOYS HIGH SCHOOL
58 EMBU HIGH SCHOOL
59 ST. FRANCIS GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL MANGU
60 BUTULA BOYS SEC SCHOOL
61 ST YERMO SECONDARY SCHOOL
62 MERU SCHOOL
63 A.I.C. CHEBISAAS BOYS SEC SCHOOL
64 NJABINI BOYS HIGH SCHOOL
65 RIARA SPRINGS ACADEMY
66 KAPSABET GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
67 KOELEL SEC SCHOOL
68 ST. CLARE GIRLS SEC SCHOOL ELBURGON
69 ST. GEORGE’S GIRLS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL NAIROBI
70 NAKURU HIGH SCHOOL
71 NJONJO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
72 PIONEER SCHOOL MARAGUA
73 CHEWOYET HIGH SCHOOL
74 CONSOLATA SEC SCHOOL
75 ST ANGELA’S GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
76 MOI SIONGIROI GIRLS SEC SCHOOL
77 NYAKOIBA SEC SCHOOL
78 THE AGA KHAN HIGH SCHOOL MOMBASA
79 NYAHURURU ELITE SCHOOL
80 RAMBA SECONDARY SCHOOL
81 ST. FRANCIS SEC. SCHOOL LARE
International Schools in Kenya (IGCSE Schools in Kenya) – Overview
Establishment of international schools in Kenya goes back to colonial days when European settlers set up exclusive schools. After independence, the schools were opened up to all.International schools mainly admit children of employees of foreign embassies, foreign business communities and other international organisations. Kenyan students keen to obtain foreign qualifications are also enrolled.
The growth of IGCSE Schools in Kenya shows the desire to obtain international education and qualifications. All international schools are private and most offer British curriculum leading to GCE/ IGCSE certificates. Others offer the North American High School Diploma, International Baccalaureate (IB) and European Baccalaureate (EB) diplomas.
Here are some of the best international schools in the country.
1. Abrar High School
Abrar High School is a Boys boarding secondary school, located in Off Eldoret -Eldama- ravine location, Uasin Gishu County. It is one of the best and excellent school within the vast uasin-gishu county both academically and discipline wise. The school has a modern and well equipped science laboratories and a library that renders it be a serene environment for young visionary students preparing them to become competent persons in every field they end up in.
2. Braeburn School
Braeburn School is a Private international School in Nairobi Kenya. The School follows British National Curriculum. Braeburn High School has over 300 students. It is located in Lavington suburb of Nairobi.
3. Rosslyn Academy
Rosslyn Academy is a private Christian school in Gigiri, Nairobi Kenya. It is an international, coed, day school with a North American curriculum and classes from preschool to twelfth grade.The school was founded as Mara Hills Academy in northern Tanzania in the 1940s, as a one-room school for the children of Mennonite missionaries. It was later moved to its current location in 1967, and opened a boarding facility offering K–8 education.
4. Brookhouse School
Brookhouse School also known as Brookhouse International School is an independent British curriculum co-educational day and boarding school offering Early Years, preparatory and secondary schooling. It is located in Langata, a suburb of Nairobi County, about 10 km from the Nairobi’s CBD. The school was opened in 1981 and caters for pupils from pre-school to A-level, with an overall enrollment of 750 students.
5. Hillcrest International Schools
Hillcrest International Schools is a group of schools that is committed to inspiring each and every child to achieve their own individual personal excellence and to grow to become a valuable member of the global community in which we live. The school is located at Karen- Langata Area Nairobi County. Hillcrest International Schools started with Hillcrest Preparatory School which was founded in 1965 by educationalist Dorothy Noad and long-serving government employee Frank Thompson.
6. International School of Kenya
The International School of Kenya (ISK) is an international school for pre-kindergarten to grade 12 located on the outskirts of Nairobi Kenya. It was established in 1976 and has a 25 hectare campus. The grounds used to be a large coffee plantation, and today, only a few of the original buildings remain. Students can study for a North American high school diploma or the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
7. AIC Chebisaas Boys School
AIC Chebisaas Boys School is a Boys and boarding school, located in Chepkoilel location, Uasin Gishu County. The inception of the school was the brain child of the current school Patron, Mr. Edward Limo in the early 1980s.Propelled by the desire to establish a school based on strong Christian Principles, he solicited for land from the then head of state.
8. Greensteds School
Greensteds School was established in 1936 on a 50-acre (200,000 m2) piece of land as a mixed day and boarding school situated 17 kilometres south of Nakuru town, Kenya. The school provides an English curriculum at both IGCSE and A-levels in subjects in the arts ranging from French as second language to mathematics and the sciences.
9. Light Academy Schools
Light Academy Schools is a private primary school with both girls and boys. The school is located along Jamhuri Road – Nyali in Mombasa County.
10. Nairobi Academy
Nairobi Academy is a mixed private primary school. The school is located at Gen. Mathenge Drive Spring Valley, Westlands in Nairobi County.
For more information please visit: Nairobi Academy
11. Pembroke House School
Pembroke House follows the British Common Entrance curriculum and is one of the oldest international boarding preparatory schools in Kenya. Founded in 1927 it has been educating boys and girls for over 85 years. The school has been a charitable trust since 1959, and all income is re-invested into the improvement of education for the children.
12. Rift Valley Academy
Rift Valley Academy, Protestant Missionary boarding school is a Christian boarding school in central Kenya.The School was established in 1906 by Charles hurlburt. The school established athletic, music, and drama programs, and a spirit of educational excellence emerged. In 1967, under Roy Entwistle’s leadership, RVA was the first school in Africa to receive American accreditation.
13. St. Andrews School Turi
St Andrew’s School, Turi is one of the leading independent international schools in East Africa. The School was founded by the Levets and taken on by Peter and Jean Lavers in 1931. The School initially had 15 children and by the end of the second term there were already 22 pupils.Since then, it has grown to be a large and successful boarding school, providing a first-class education to children from East Africa and beyond.
14. Strathmore School
Strathmore School is a private, independent, boys’ day school located in Nairobi Kenya that follows the 8-4-4 curriculum. Strathmore was started as a Sixth Form college in March 1961. In 1977 the first Form One students were admitted, and in 1987 the first Standard One pupils.
Strathmore began as a Sixth Form College offering a full range of Arts and Science subjects. The first Form Five students enrolled in March, 1961, and sat the Higher School Certificate Examination in November 1962.
15. Urafiki Carovana School
Urafiki Carovana School is a private primary school with both girls and boys. The school is located at Kahawa-Wendani, Near St. Joseph Catholic Church in Kiambu County.
16. Webzz Educational Centre
Webzz Educational Centre is a mixed day school, located in Malaba location, Bungoma County.
17. Naitiri Boys High School
Naitiri Boys High School is a Boys day and boarding school, located in Mbakalo location, Trans Nzoia County.
18. P.C.E.A Silanga High School
PCEA Silanga High School is a Christian-foundation based mixed secondary school in Kibera, Nairobi Kenya. Established in January 2007 by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Kibera Parish, under the leadership of the Rev. Samuel Machugu Kamau and Evangelist Isaac Irungu Mwangi, it caters for the educational needs of the Kibera community.
19. Kenton College, Nairobi
Kenton College Preparatory school is an international school located Located in the leafy suburb of Kileleshwa in Nairobi.Kenton College was founded at Kijabe in January 1924, taking its roots from a school called Kenya Grange at Lumbwa.Kenton College was, and always had been, an all boys, all boarding school. Originally built for less than 100 pupils, the school continued to grow and flourish so that, when the Rev Birks retired in 1966, over 100 boys were being educated at Kenton.
International Schools in Kenya News
IGCSE Schools in Kenya: Elite Nairobi schools top African chart of tuition fees charged
Kenya’s elite schools are riding on the high premium that parents have put on their children’s education to charge some of the highest fees in Africa, according to a newly released report.
The top-notch schools, many of them offering international curricula, charge up to Sh2.7 million per year, reflecting the increasing perception of education as a golden ticket to better fortunes among the Kenyan population.
The International Schools Database survey puts the cost of educating a child below 10 years in Nairobi’s top private schools at $10,500 (Sh1 million) a year on average or $875 a month.
Nairobi’s sky-high fees stand above the average annual fees in the more advanced metropolis like Amsterdam ($5,940), Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Abu Dhabi and South Africa’s Cape Town — whose fees are nearly a third of what the Kenyan schools charge.
“The survey suggests that the high price is in part due to high-quality education and costs,” said Andrea Robledillo of the International Schools Database.
IGCSE Schools in Kenya – ISK fees highest
Top on the list of Nairobi’s exclusive schools is the International School of Kenya (ISK), which charges parents Sh2.7 million a year per child, according to the survey.
The charges make the institution an exclusive club for wealthy Kenyans and expatriates working for multinationals, missions and non-governmental agencies.
The ISK boasts expansive compounds, modern libraries and laboratories, quality meals and a wide range of facilities for sporting and extra-curricular activities.
The school, which is owned by the American Embassy and the Canadian High Commission, offers the American curriculum.
Nairobi’s Rossyln Academy comes in second, charging Sh1.5 million a year, tying with the Banda School and Kenton Preparatory School.
Hillcrest, which charges Sh1.4 million a year per child, is placed third.
The survey was conducted in cities with more than seven international schools and only captures tuition fees, leaving out additional charges.
Kenyan parents have increasingly embraced international education to give their children a chance at upward mobility and set them up for admissions to top universities abroad.
IGCSE Schools in Kenya – Holistic learning
“The elite schools offer holistic learning that captures crucial aspects such as leadership skills, critical thinking and problem solving, all of which are essential in today’s job market and innovation space,” said Bitange Ndemo, an associate professor at the University of Nairobi’s School of Business.
Most multinationals and diplomatic agencies cover the education expenses of their foreign workers as part of allowances, easing the expats’ burden.
The survey serves as a guide for expatriates looking to move with their families to different work stations in the world.
Nairobi’s high fees could help multinationals, United Nations agencies and diplomatic missions to justify the huge staff budgets for employees stationed in the city.
The benefits of premium education continue to be recorded in the flow of Kenyan students to top global learning universities. Kenya this year cemented its position as the top African country with the largest number of students admitted yearly to the prestigious Yale University in the United States.
Data from the university indicates that 24 Kenyan students were admitted to study at the institution this year, ahead of Nigeria’s 23, Zimbabwe (18), Ghana (17) and South Africa (16).
Kenya’s admissions to Yale comprise 17 undergraduates and seven graduates also placed the country in position 16 in the world in terms of admission to Yale.
Degrees from such ivy league universities are seen as a ticket to securing top jobs in the global market.
The newly released report shows international schools in Denmark’s Copenhagen charge some the lowest rates at Sh426,420 a year ($4,140), or about half Nairobi’s fees because of government subsidies.
“International education is so affordable in a not-so-cheap nation like Denmark, because government-approved private schools, including international schools, often receive the same amount of government funding as public ones,” the survey says.
China’s Shanghai is the most expensive city in terms of international school fees that averages Sh3.4 million ($33,396) a year or $2,783 a month.
Other top fees-charging schools in the Kenyan capital are GEMS Cambridge (Sh1.4 million a year), Brookhouse (Sh1.4 million) and Braeburn at Sh1.3 million.
“To calculate the price of international schools, we used the whole price of a full term for a six-year-old child, excluding one-time fees like enrolment fee and application fee,” the survey says.
“The average used is the median price of all the international schools available for a six-year-old child in each city.”
Apart from being a hub of heritage and wealth, Kenya is also home to various international schools. These schools offer top-grade education where your children can thrive and have a promising future. If you would like your children to study in IGCSE schools in Kenya, you can look for the one that will fit your budget or is close to your location.
