What the Grade 11 curriculum designs are
The Grade 11 curriculum designs are the official KICD documents that set out what a learner should learn in each subject in the second year of Senior School. There is one design per subject. Each states the learning outcomes for the subject, breaks it into strands and sub-strands, and for every sub-strand sets out specific learning outcomes, suggested learning experiences and key inquiry questions. Schemes of work, lesson plans and assessments for Grade 11 are all built from these designs.
Grade 11 is new under the CBC. The learners who began Senior School in Grade 10 in 2026 move into Grade 11 when Term 1 opens on 4 January 2027, so 2027 is the first year Grade 11 is taught from these designs. For a teacher, that means there is no earlier CBC Grade 11 scheme or lesson plan to fall back on; the design is the place to start.
How Senior School is organised
Senior School is the fourth level of the CBC, after Pre-Primary, Primary and Junior School. It lasts three years, Grade 10 to Grade 12, for learners generally aged 16 to 18. Its purpose, in KICD's words, is to give learners a pre-tertiary and pre-career experience in which they choose pathways, tracks and subjects that match the interests and potential they showed earlier.
Each learner takes seven learning areas: four that every learner takes, and three electives chosen according to career choice, aptitude, interest and personality, with guidance from the Senior School career teacher. That structure follows the recommendation of the Presidential Working Party on Educational Reforms (2023).
The four compulsory learning areas are English, Kiswahili (or Kenya Sign Language), Mathematics and Community Service Learning (CSL). Mathematics comes in two versions, and which one a learner takes depends on the pathway:
- Core Mathematics: for learners on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pathway.
- Essential Mathematics: for learners on the non-STEM pathways.
So the first thing to check, before downloading a Grade 11 Mathematics design or anything built from it, is which of the two the learner or class takes.
The Grade 11 week: 40 lessons
A Senior School week has 40 lessons of 40 minutes each. The KICD lesson distribution for Senior School is:
| Subject | Lessons per week |
|---|---|
| English | 5 |
| Kiswahili | 5 |
| Core Mathematics or Essential Mathematics | 5 |
| Community Service Learning | 3 |
| Elective 1 | 5 |
| Elective 2 | 5 |
| Elective 3 | 5 |
| Physical Education | 3 |
| ICT Skills | 2 |
| Pastoral / Religious Programme of Instruction | 1 |
| Learner personal or group study | 1 |
| Total | 40 |
Physical Education and ICT are offered to every learner, every school runs a Pastoral or Religious Programme of Instruction for moral and character development, and one lesson a week is set aside for personal or group study in areas of the learner's choice.
The electives, in three groups
Beyond the four core subjects, the KICD list for Senior School has 33 electives in three groups. A learner takes three.
- Arts and Sports Science: Sports and Recreation; Music and Dance; Theatre and Film; Fine Arts.
- Social Sciences: Literature in English; Indigenous Languages; Fasihi ya Kiswahili; Sign Language; Arabic; French; German; Mandarin Chinese; Christian Religious Education; Islamic Religious Education; Hindu Religious Education; Business Studies; History and Citizenship; Geography.
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Biology; Chemistry; Physics; General Science; Agriculture; Computer Studies; Home Science; Aviation; Building Construction; Electricity; Metalwork; Power Mechanics; Woodwork; Media Technology; Marine and Fisheries Technology.
Each of these subjects has its own curriculum design. Which ones a school offers depends on the pathways it runs, so a teacher usually needs the designs for the core subjects plus the electives taught in that school.
What is inside a Senior School curriculum design
Every Senior School design follows the same order, so once you have read one you can find your way around any of them. A design opens with the national goals of education, a section on Senior School in the CBC and the learning outcomes for Senior School as a whole. It then gives the subject list and the lesson distribution shown above, followed by the subject's own essence statement and subject general learning outcomes. A summary of strands and sub-strands comes next, then the full strand tables, which make up most of the document, and appendices that repeat the strand summary and list general resources.
For planning, the parts that matter most are the subject general learning outcomes, the summary of strands and sub-strands, and the strand tables, which carry the specific learning outcomes, learning experiences and key inquiry questions that schemes of work and lesson plans are built on.
Example: Grade 11 Core Mathematics
The Grade 11 Core Mathematics design is organised into four strands: Numbers and Algebra; Measurements and Geometry; Statistics and Probability; and Calculus. Its essence statement describes a course that builds on Junior School mathematics and develops critical, creative and logical reasoning and abstract thinking, preparing learners on the STEM pathway for further study in fields such as engineering, the sciences, medicine and actuarial work.
Because Core Mathematics is the STEM version, it is the design for learners whose electives sit mainly in the STEM group. Learners on the other pathways follow Essential Mathematics instead. The Grade 11 Core Mathematics curriculum design is in our catalogue.
Who this page is for
This page is for anyone preparing for Grade 11 in its first CBC year. Teachers taking a Grade 11 class in 2027 can see how the subjects and the week fit together before opening the design for their own subject. Trainee teachers and education students get the Senior School structure in one place: the seven learning areas, the 40-lesson week and the three groups of electives. Head teachers and timetablers can plan the week from the lesson distribution above. Researchers and sector practitioners get the structure as KICD sets it out. And anyone downloading for a teacher or school, at a cyber café or school office, should confirm two things first: the subject, and for Mathematics whether it is Core or Essential, since the two are different designs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many subjects does a Grade 11 learner take? Seven learning areas: four compulsory (English, Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language, Core or Essential Mathematics, and Community Service Learning) and three electives. Physical Education, ICT Skills and the Pastoral or Religious Programme of Instruction are offered to every learner as well.
How many lessons a week are there in Grade 11? Forty lessons of 40 minutes each. English, Kiswahili, Mathematics and each of the three electives get five lessons a week, Community Service Learning and Physical Education three each, ICT Skills two, and the pastoral programme and personal study one each.
What is the difference between Core Mathematics and Essential Mathematics? Core Mathematics is taken by learners on the STEM pathway; Essential Mathematics by learners on the non-STEM pathways. They have separate curriculum designs, so check which one a learner takes before downloading.
What strands are in Grade 11 Core Mathematics? Four: Numbers and Algebra; Measurements and Geometry; Statistics and Probability; and Calculus.
When does Grade 11 start in 2027? Grade 11 begins with Term 1 2027 on 4 January. Senior School Term 1 runs to 2 April (13 weeks). Our Kenya School Calendar 2027 guide has all the term dates.
Where do I find the design for a particular elective, such as Chemistry? Open the Grade 11 curriculum designs page in our catalogue (the link below) and look for the subject. Each elective has its own design.
More Senior School and curriculum design resources
This page covers Grade 11. For the curriculum designs of every other grade, from Pre-Primary to Senior School, start from our CBC Curriculum Designs page. For Grade 11 schemes of work, see the Senior School section of our Schemes of Work by Grade & Term page.
Download the Grade 11 curriculum designs (PDF)
The Grade 11 curriculum designs are in our catalogue as PDFs. Use the links below to open the full Grade 11 set, or go straight to Core Mathematics.