From the marking · 19 October 2026 · 4 min read
Where Grade 9 learners lose marks — 7 days before KJSEA
Since term started, 399 Grade 9 learners have had 3,757 answers marked on Mtihani Space against the four CBC levels — Exceeding, Meeting, Approaching, Below. These are the nine sub-strands where the largest share of answers came back Approaching or Below, what the marking says is going wrong in each, and one real question from the bank to try tonight.
Only topics with at least 40 marked answers are ranked. This is practice data from one app, not a prediction of the paper — but the same gaps show up in every cohort we have seen.
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Trigonometry
🔢 Mathematics · Geometry · 40 answers from 30 learners
63%marked Approaching or Below · 55% Below
What goes wrong
Picking the wrong ratio for the angle given. Learners reach for tan when the question gives the hypotenuse; SOH-CAH-TOA is known but not applied to the side the question actually asks for.
Try one tonight
Trigonometry – Side Opposite a 30° Angle1 mark · 22 learners tried it · 68% needed another goOpen →All Trigonometry questions → - 2
Linear Inequalities
🔢 Mathematics · Algebra · 60 answers from 40 learners
57%marked Approaching or Below · 25% Below
What goes wrong
Forgetting to reverse the inequality sign when dividing by a negative, and not expanding the bracket before collecting terms. The method is right until the last line.
Try one tonight
Solving a Linear Inequality1 mark · 50 learners tried it · 60% needed another goOpen →All Linear Inequalities questions → - 3
Mass, Volume, Weight and Density
🔢 Mathematics · Measurements · 52 answers from 30 learners
52%marked Approaching or Below · 31% Below
What goes wrong
Not finding the volume first. A 5 cm cube is 125 cm³, and density × volume needs that number — many answers jump straight to density with no volume shown.
Try one tonight
Mass of a Metallic Cube Using Density1 mark · 15 learners tried it · 47% needed another goOpen →All Mass, Volume, Weight and Density questions → - 4
Money
🔢 Mathematics · Measurements · 272 answers from 143 learners
49%marked Approaching or Below · 29% Below
What goes wrong
Not adding VAT to the marked price to get the selling price — the single most common gap in the whole bank (seen 22 times). The 16% is calculated and then left on its own.
Try one tonight
VAT on exercise books purchase at 16%2 marks · 85 learners tried it · 54% needed another goOpen →All Money questions → - 5
Equations of a Straight Line
🔢 Mathematics · Algebra · 136 answers from 77 learners
45%marked Approaching or Below · 24% Below
What goes wrong
No working shown. Gradient from two points is a one-line formula; answers that give the number without the subtraction can't earn method marks when the number is wrong.
Try one tonight
Gradient of a Straight Line Through Two Points1 mark · 73 learners tried it · 38% needed another goOpen →All Equations of a Straight Line questions → - 6
Structure of the Atom
🔬 Integrated Science · Mixtures, Elements and Compounds · 80 answers from 23 learners
43%marked Approaching or Below · 29% Below
What goes wrong
Mixing up what combines: elements form compounds, but answers describe mixtures or confuse atoms with molecules. Vocabulary, not calculation.
Try one tonight
Elements Combining to Form Compounds1 mark · 13 learners tried it · 69% needed another goOpen →All Structure of the Atom questions → - 7
Socio-Economic Practices of Early Humans
🌍 Social Studies · People and Relationships · 82 answers from 21 learners
41%marked Approaching or Below · 24% Below
What goes wrong
Recall without evidence. 'Africa is the cradle of humankind' is stated, but the fossil sites and what they show are missing — the marks sit in the evidence.
Try one tonight
Africa as the Cradle of Humankind1 mark · 18 learners tried it · 22% needed another goOpen →All Socio-Economic Practices of Early Humans questions → - 8
Time, Distance and Speed
🔢 Mathematics · Measurements · 280 answers from 143 learners
41%marked Approaching or Below · 27% Below
What goes wrong
Unit handling. Minutes left as minutes inside a km/h calculation, or the distance formula rearranged the wrong way round.
Try one tonight
Motorist speed Nakuru to Eldoret2 marks · 84 learners tried it · 43% needed another goOpen →All Time, Distance and Speed questions → - 9
Water Hardness
🔬 Integrated Science · Mixtures, Elements and Compounds · 149 answers from 33 learners
40%marked Approaching or Below · 15% Below
What goes wrong
Describing the experiment without the conclusion. Observations are listed; what they tell you about temporary vs permanent hardness is not.
Try one tonight
Experiment on Properties of Water — Identifying the Test1 mark · 19 learners tried it · 21% needed another goOpen →All Water Hardness questions →
What to do with seven days
Don't revise everything. Pick the two topics on this list where you know you'd struggle, and do three questions on each, tonight. The marking tells you the level and exactly what to fix — the same four levels KJSEA uses. Tomorrow, two more. Every question on Mtihani Space is free to attempt; the first three evenings of marking are free too.
Start with the Grade 9 bank →Teachers: the teacher portal shows this same breakdown for your own class, free.
How this was measured
Every answer submitted on Mtihani Space is marked by an AI following the question's CBC rubric and assigned one of four levels. “Struggling” here means Approaching or Below Expectations. Counts are for Grade 9 published questions, all of term 3 2026 to 19 October 2026. “What goes wrong” summarises the most frequent gaps the marking recorded on Approaching/Below answers for that sub-strand. Learner identities are never published.