What Grade 10 exams and assessments are
Grade 10 exams and assessments are the competency-based tests and tasks used to check what a Senior School learner has mastered in each subject they are taking, describing performance against clear levels rather than reducing it to a single mark. They cover the continuous assessment that runs through the term as well as the opener, mid-term and end-term papers that check a longer stretch of learning. Learners and teachers commonly search for these as "Grade 10 exams" or "past papers", and that is what this page gathers – the Senior School assessments for every Grade 10 subject, in editable format, in one place.
Grade 10 is the first year of Senior School, the fourth and final level of the Competency Based Curriculum, after Pre-Primary, Primary and Junior School. Because Senior School is where learners specialise, the assessment a given learner needs depends on the subjects they are taking – so this page is organised to let you go straight to the subject you want.
How Grade 10 is structured
Senior School works differently from the grades below it, and that shapes what you download. Rather than a single fixed set of learning areas that every learner sits, a Grade 10 learner takes seven learning areas: four compulsory, plus three chosen according to their pathway.
The four compulsory areas are English, Kiswahili (or Kenya Sign Language), Community Service Learning, and Physical Education. The remaining three are selected from one of three pathways – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Social Sciences; and Arts and Sports Science – based on the interests and strengths a learner has shown at earlier levels. A compulsory learning area carries four lessons a week and an optional one carries six, with ICT skills offered across the board.
What this means in practice is that no two Grade 10 timetables are necessarily the same, and the assessment a learner needs is specific to their chosen subjects. The browse section below follows exactly that structure – the compulsory areas first, then each pathway – so you can find the right paper without wading through subjects a learner isn't taking.
Browse Grade 10 exams and assessments by subject
Compulsory learning areas (every Grade 10 learner)
STEM pathway
- Mathematics
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- General Science
- Computer Studies
- Agriculture
- Home Science
- Power Mechanics
The STEM pathway also includes several technical and engineering subjects – Building and Construction, Electrical Technology, Metal Technology, Wood Technology, Aviation Technology, Marine and Fisheries Technology, Media Technology and Computer Science among them. Open the all-subjects link at the foot of this page to reach any of these for Grade 10.
Social Sciences pathway
- Business Studies
- Geography
- History and Citizenship
- Christian Religious Education (CRE)
- Islamic Religious Education (IRE)
- Literature in English
- Fasihi ya Kiswahili
The Social Sciences pathway also offers the foreign and additional languages – French, German, Mandarin Chinese – and Hindu Religious Education. Use the all-subjects link below to reach any of these for Grade 10.
Arts and Sports Science pathway
What you get in the files
The Grade 10 assessments download in editable format, so you can adjust them to your class, your term dates and the ground you have actually covered. You'll find opener, mid-term and end-term papers, along with topic tests, and where a marking guide is provided the papers come with answers. Alongside general CBC-aligned assessments, some Grade 10 material is developed against specific KICD-approved publisher coursebooks – both sit under the same subject link, so open it and check the file titles to see which you are getting.
Who these are for
- Teachers – ready-made competency-based assessment material for Grade 10, matching how Senior School subjects are assessed under the CBC, for continuous assessment and end-of-term tests.
- Learners and home users – exam papers and practice tests to revise with across your Grade 10 subjects – opener, mid-term and end-term papers, with answers where a marking guide is included.
- Parents, and anyone downloading on a learner's behalf (including from a cyber café or business centre) – Grade 10 is specialised, so a learner takes only some of the subjects listed. Confirm the exact subject the learner is taking, then download that subject's paper rather than assuming.
- Researchers and education-sector readers – these are the CBC competency-based assessments for the first year of Senior School, organised by the compulsory learning areas and the three subject pathways (STEM, Social Sciences, Arts and Sports Science).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these Grade 10 exams? Yes – at CBC level the competency-based tests on this page are what schools set as Grade 10 exams. You'll find opener, mid-term and end-term exam papers, plus topic tests, tied to the Senior School learning outcomes for each subject. Where a marking guide is provided, the papers come with answers. Some readers also search for these as "past papers" or "exam papers with answers" – same resources, described in exam language.
How many subjects does a Grade 10 learner take? Seven learning areas: four compulsory (English, Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language, Community Service Learning, and Physical Education) plus three chosen according to the learner's pathway.
What are the Senior School pathways? Three: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Social Sciences; and Arts and Sports Science. A learner picks their three optional subjects from a pathway based on the interest and ability they showed at earlier levels.
Are these aligned to the CBC Senior School curriculum? Yes. The assessments follow the CBC learning areas and outcomes for Grade 10, so they match what learners are taught and assessed on. Where you need the underlying outcomes, they come from KICD's Senior School curriculum design for each subject.
Are the assessments tied to a particular coursebook? Some are. Alongside general CBC-aligned assessments, we publish material developed against specific KICD-approved publisher coursebooks. Open a subject's link and check the file titles to see which a file follows.
I've been asked to download these for a learner – what do I check? The exact subject first, because Grade 10 is specialised and a learner takes only some of the subjects listed. Then whether an opener, mid-term or end-term paper is wanted. Confirming the subject avoids fetching a paper for a subject the learner isn't taking.
Looking for exams and assessments for another level?
This page covers Grade 10 exams and assessments (Senior School). For Grade 10 study and revision notes, see our Grade 10 Notes hub. For Junior School, our Junior School Exams & Assessments hub links to Grade 7, 8 and 9. For primary and pre-primary (Playgroup–Grade 6), see the Primary Exams & Assessments hub. For 8-4-4 secondary (Form 1–4), see the Secondary Exams hub. For everything across all levels, start from our Exams & Assessments hub.
Download the Grade 10 exams and assessments
The full set of Grade 10 exams and assessments, for every subject, is in our catalogue organised by subject. Use the button below for the complete Grade 10 collection across all subjects and pathways, or the subject links above to go straight to what you need.