What Grade 7 assessments are
Grade 7 assessments are the competency-based tests and tasks used to check what a Grade 7 learner has mastered in each Junior School 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 7 is the first year of Junior School, and it is a real change of gear. A learner arrives from upper primary, where subjects were broader and more integrated, and meets distinct learning areas taught in more depth — Integrated Science, Pre-Technical Studies and Creative Arts and Sports among them. Assessment changes with it, asking learners to investigate, apply and explain rather than mainly recall. This page brings together the Grade 7 assessments for every learning area in one place, in editable format.
What a Grade 7 learner is assessed on
Under the CBC Junior School timetable, a Grade 7 learner takes nine core learning areas alongside the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme:
- English – listening and speaking, reading, grammar in use, and writing, extended for academic use across the curriculum.
- Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language – kusikiliza na kuzungumza, kusoma, kuandika na sarufi, following the school's programme.
- Mathematics – numbers, algebra, measurement, geometry and data handling.
- Religious Education – offered as Christian Religious Education (CRE) or Islamic Religious Education (IRE).
- Social Studies – people and population, the natural and built environment, and governance.
- Integrated Science – biological, physical and chemical science taught as one learning area.
- Pre-Technical Studies – the practical and technical foundation area.
- Agriculture and Nutrition – the current merged area combining agriculture with nutrition and food.
- Creative Arts and Sports – the merged creative and physical area.
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.
What the assessments actually cover, by learning area
An assessment only makes sense against what the year is meant to teach. Three Grade 7 learning areas are set out below as they appear in the curriculum design, so you can see what a test at this level is drawing on. KICD notes that the suggested number of lessons per sub-strand may run shorter or longer depending on context, so read these as the shape of the year rather than a fixed timetable.
Integrated Science
Roughly 150 lessons across four strands. This is the area where Grade 7 most clearly departs from upper-primary science:
- Scientific Investigation – introduction to integrated science, laboratory safety, and laboratory apparatus and instruments. Assessment here is as much about safe, correct practice as about knowledge.
- Mixtures, Elements and Compounds – mixtures, and acids, bases and indicators.
- Living Things and the Environment – the human reproductive system and the human excretory system.
- Force and Energy – electrical energy and magnetism.
Agriculture and Nutrition
Roughly 120 lessons across four strands, blending agricultural practice with food and nutrition:
- Conservation of Resources – controlling soil pollution, constructing water retention structures, conserving food nutrients, and growing trees.
- Food Production Processes – crop establishment, selected crop management practices, preparing animal products, and cooking food.
- Hygiene Practices – hygiene in rearing animals, and laundry of loose-coloured items.
- Production Techniques – knitting skills, constructing a framed suspended garden, adding value to crop produce, and making homemade soap.
Much of this is practical, so assessment often looks at a product or a process rather than a written answer.
Creative Arts and Sports
Roughly 78 lessons across two strands, covering art, music and sport as one merged area:
- Foundations of Creative Arts and Sports – introduction to the area and its components.
- Creating and Performing – drawing and painting, rhythm, javelin and sculpture, melody, handball, and the descant recorder.
Assessment here is largely performance- and portfolio-based, judged against what a learner produces or performs.
The remaining learning areas follow the same principle, each built from the strands in its own curriculum design.
What you get in the files
The Grade 7 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 7 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 7, matching how Junior School 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 7 learning areas.
- Parents, and anyone downloading on a learner's behalf (including from a cyber café or business centre) – these are specifically Grade 7, the first Junior School year. Confirm the learner's grade first, then the learning area, before downloading.
- Researchers and education-sector readers – these are the CBC competency-based assessments for the entry year of Junior School, structured by learning area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do Grade 7 assessments include? Competency-based tests and continuous-assessment tasks tied to the CBC learning outcomes for Grade 7, describing a learner against performance levels rather than a single mark.
How many learning areas does a Grade 7 learner take? Nine core learning areas, plus the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme.
How is Grade 7 different from Grade 6? Grade 7 is the first year of Junior School. Subjects become distinct learning areas taught in more depth, and new areas appear — Integrated Science, Pre-Technical Studies, and Creative Arts and Sports. Assessment shifts toward investigating and applying rather than recalling.
Are these aligned to the CBC Junior School curriculum? Yes. The assessments follow the CBC learning areas and outcomes for Grade 7, 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 Junior School assessments are grade-specific. Then the learning area the learner needs to practise.
Looking for another Junior School grade?
This page covers Grade 7. For Grade 8 and Grade 9, and for the Junior School phase as a whole, start from our Junior School Assessments hub, which links to every grade. Grade 8 has its own detailed hub at Grade 8 Assessments. For other levels — primary, Senior School and secondary 8-4-4 — see the Exams & Assessments hub.
Download the Grade 7 assessments
The full set of Grade 7 assessments, for every learning area, is in our catalogue organised by learning area. Use the button below for the complete Grade 7 collection.