University Placement: Why the secrecy in weighted cluster points?

By MUNGAI KIHANYA

The Sunday Nation

Nairobi,

01 Mayl 2022

Unlike the case in secondary school admissions, there is usually no public outcry about university admissions. Perhaps this is because KCSE candidates are allowed to make their choices of courses after the results of the national examination are released.

Nevertheless, the method used by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) in determining who are the most qualified applicants for a specific course is shrouded in secrecy. Whereas universities state the minimum requirements unequivocally, this is not so with KUCCPS.

A university might say something like: applicants must have a minimum aggregate grade C+ at KCSE and at least a B- in the four subjects relevant to the degree course. This is straightforward. The challenge comes when there are more qualified applicants that spaces available for the degree course.

In that case, it is only fair to arrange the qualified applicants in the order of performance and pick from the top. To do this quickly, KUCCPS developed something called the Weighted Cluster Points. The idea is to mix the aggregate KCSE grade points with those scored in the cluster of four subjects relevant to a course in order to get a single value.

Unfortunately, the exact formula used in calculating these Weighted Cluster Points is a secret! I requested KUCCPS for it and their response was that “there's no need for the formula since the system automatically calculates it for you.” I explained to them that I am not a candidate but a Kenyan citizen who wants to know the method used. KUPCCS did not respond to this.

Undeterred, I searched the Internet and found several education related websites that claimed to have the formula. They all said the same thing. There are 5 steps as follows.

1: Add the grade points scored in the four cluster subjects and divide by 48.

2: Divide the total aggregate points by 84.

3: Multiply the result of step 1 by that of step 2.

4: Take the square-root of the result from step 3.

5: Multiply the result from step 4 by 48.

The answer you get is the Weighted Cluster Points. That wasn’t difficult, was it? So, why keep it a secret? I have some issues about this formula but I wouldn’t want to dwell on them too much since KUCCPS has not confirmed whether this is, indeed the way they work it out.