What Grade 8 assessments are
Grade 8 assessments are the competency-based tests and tasks used to check what a Grade 8 learner has mastered in each Junior School learning area, describing performance against clear levels rather than reducing it to a single mark. They cover both the continuous assessment that runs through the term and the topic and end-of-term tests that check a longer stretch of learning.
Grade 8 sits in the middle of Junior School. The learning areas a learner met in Grade 7 continue, but the work goes deeper and the assessments follow — asking learners to apply what they know rather than recall it. This page brings together the Grade 8 assessments for every learning area in one place, in editable format, so a teacher can adapt them to a class and a learner can use them to revise.
What a Grade 8 learner is assessed on
Under the CBC Junior School timetable, a Grade 8 learner takes nine core learning areas, alongside the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme. The assessments on this page are organised to match:
- 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, algebra, measurement, geometry and data handling.
- Integrated Science – the mixture of biological, physical and chemical science taught as one Junior School area.
- Pre-Technical Studies – the practical and technical foundation area.
- Social Studies – people and population, the natural and built environment, and political developments and governance.
- Agriculture and Nutrition – the current merged area combining agriculture with nutrition and food.
- Creative Arts and Sports – the merged creative and physical area.
- Religious Education – available as Christian, Islamic or Hindu Religious Education, following the school's programme.
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 8 Social Studies is assessed
Social Studies is a useful illustration of how a Grade 8 assessment maps back to the curriculum design, because the design sets out exactly what the year covers. The learning area is built from four strands across roughly 120 lessons:
- People, Population and Relationships – the largest strand, covering the scientific theory about human origin, early civilisation, the Trans-Saharan slave trade, population growth in Africa, diversity and inclusion, and peace and non-violent conflict resolution in the family.
- Community Service-Learning Project – a single sustained project strand, assessed on the project itself rather than by written test.
- Natural and Historic Built Environments – map reading and interpretation, weather and climate, vegetation in Africa, and historical sites and monuments in Africa.
- Political Developments and Governance – the Constitution of Kenya, human rights, and citizenship.
An assessment for any of these traces back to the specific learning outcomes for that sub-strand, which is why performance is described against levels rather than scored as a bare percentage. KICD notes that the suggested number of lessons per sub-strand may run shorter or longer depending on context, so treat the spread above as the shape of the year rather than a fixed timetable.
The other Grade 8 learning areas follow the same principle, each built from the strands in its own curriculum design.
What you get in the files
The Grade 8 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 8 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 8, 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 8 learning areas.
- Parents, and anyone downloading on a learner's behalf (including from a cyber café or business centre) – these are specifically Grade 8, not Grade 7 or Grade 9. 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 middle year of Junior School, structured by learning area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do Grade 8 assessments include? Competency-based tests and continuous-assessment tasks tied to the CBC learning outcomes for Grade 8, describing a learner against performance levels rather than a single mark.
How many learning areas does a Grade 8 learner take? Nine core learning areas, plus the Pastoral or Religious Instruction Programme.
Are these the same as Grade 7 assessments? No. The learning areas continue from Grade 7, but the outcomes assessed are specific to Grade 8, and the work goes deeper. Use the Grade 8 link on this page rather than a Grade 7 file.
Are these aligned to the CBC Junior School curriculum? Yes. The assessments follow the CBC learning areas and outcomes for Grade 8, 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 8. Grade 7 has its own detailed hub at Grade 7 Assessments. For Grade 9, and for the Junior School phase as a whole, start from our Junior School Assessments hub, which links to every grade. For other levels — primary, Senior School and secondary 8-4-4 — see the Exams & Assessments hub.
Download the Grade 8 assessments
The full set of Grade 8 assessments, for every learning area, is in our catalogue organised by learning area. Use the button below for the complete Grade 8 collection.