What Grade 5 assessments are
Grade 5 assessments are the competency-based tests and tasks used to check what a Grade 5 learner has mastered in each learning area, 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 topic and end-of-term tests that check a longer stretch of learning.
Grade 5 sits in the middle of upper primary. The learning areas introduced in Grade 4 continue, but the work asks for more independence — longer written responses, more genuine investigation in science, and multi-step problems in mathematics. Assessment follows that shift. This page brings together the Grade 5 assessments for every learning area in one place, in editable format.
What a Grade 5 learner is assessed on
Under the CBC upper-primary timetable, a Grade 5 learner takes eight learning areas alongside the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme:
- English – listening and speaking, reading, grammar in use, and writing.
- Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language – kusikiliza na kuzungumza, kusoma, kuandika na sarufi, following the school's programme.
- Mathematics – numbers, measurement, geometry and data handling.
- Religious Education – offered as Christian Religious Education (CRE) or Islamic Religious Education (IRE).
- Science and Technology – the physical and living environment, scientific investigation, and everyday technology.
- Agriculture and Nutrition – the current merged area combining agriculture with nutrition and food.
- Social Studies – the current merged area covering people, places, citizenship and the environment.
- Creative Arts – the current merged area covering art and craft, music and movement.
Because assessment is continuous rather than only end-of-term, these work as regular check-ins across the year — useful for keeping a class on track, and for a learner revising one area before a test.
How Grade 5 assessment works
Assessment across these learning areas takes several forms, and a complete picture of a learner usually needs more than one:
- Written tests – topic tests and end-of-term papers, the most familiar form and the bulk of what teachers use at this level.
- Practical and investigative tasks – particularly in Science and Technology and in Agriculture and Nutrition, where a learner is assessed on carrying out an investigation or a practical process, not only on describing it.
- Oral assessment – in the languages especially, since listening and speaking are assessed strands in their own right.
- Portfolios and projects – collected work showing progress across a term, common in Creative Arts.
- Rubrics – describing performance against levels for each skill, so a teacher can see which sub-strand needs support rather than reading a single total.
What you get in the files
The Grade 5 assessments download in editable format, so you can adjust them to your class, your term dates and the ground you have actually covered. Alongside general CBC-aligned assessments, some Grade 5 material is developed against specific KICD-approved publisher coursebooks — both sit under the same catalogue 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 5, matching how upper-primary learning areas are assessed under the CBC, for continuous assessment and end-of-term tests.
- Learners and home users – practice tests and tasks to revise with across the Grade 5 learning areas.
- Parents, and anyone downloading on a learner's behalf (including from a cyber café or business centre) – these are specifically Grade 5. Confirm the learner's grade first, then the learning area.
- Researchers and education-sector readers – these are the CBC competency-based assessments for the middle year of upper primary, structured by learning area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do Grade 5 assessments include? Competency-based tests and continuous-assessment tasks tied to the CBC learning outcomes for Grade 5, describing a learner against performance levels rather than a single mark.
How many learning areas does a Grade 5 learner take? Eight learning areas, plus the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme.
How is Grade 5 different from Grade 4? The learning areas are the same, but the demand rises. Grade 5 expects more independent work — longer written responses, multi-step problems, and investigations a learner carries out with less scaffolding.
Are these aligned to the CBC curriculum? Yes. The assessments follow the CBC learning areas and outcomes for Grade 5, so they match what learners are taught and assessed on.
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 the catalogue 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 grade first, since assessments are grade-specific. Then the learning area the learner needs to practise.
Looking for another Grade 5 resource, or another grade?
This page covers Grade 5 assessments. For Grade 5 English specifically, we have detailed hubs for schemes of work, lesson plans and assessments. For Grade 5 teaching resources across all learning areas, see the Grade 5 Schemes of Work hub. For other primary grades, start from our Primary Exams & Assessments hub, or the Exams & Assessments hub for all levels.
Download the Grade 5 assessments
The full set of Grade 5 assessments, for every learning area, is in our catalogue organised by learning area. Use the button below for the complete Grade 5 collection.