Knowledge base
Guides
How Kenya’s qualifications actually work — the ladder, the grades, the regulators, and what happens after you graduate. Written for our students and their parents.
Most of the questions our admissions officers answer on the phone are not about Skillwave at all. They are about the system: what a “Level 6” actually is, whether a diploma can take you to a degree, what the Nursing Council needs from you and when, and whether any of it travels abroad. These pages answer those properly, once.
Who regulates what
Kenyan education is governed by several bodies with genuinely different jobs. Knowing which one to ask saves weeks.
| Body | What it does | When it affects you |
|---|---|---|
| TVETA TVET Authority | Accredits TVET institutions | Before you enrol anywhere — check the college is accredited |
| TVET CDACC | Writes the curriculum, sets and marks the assessments, issues the certificate | Your assessments and your certificate, on every TVET programme we run |
| NCK Nursing Council of Kenya | Regulates nursing training and practice | Nursing only — indexing, the licensure exam, your licence |
| KNQA Kenya National Qualifications Authority | Runs the national qualifications framework and credit transfer | When you move between levels, or bring in a foreign qualification |
| CUE Commission for University Education | Accredits universities and approves their degree programmes | When you go on to a degree |
| KUCCPS | Places government-sponsored students into universities and colleges | If you are applying for government sponsorship |
| NITA National Industrial Training Authority | Industrial training, trade tests and recognition of prior learning | Care Giver II is assessed by NITA, and Skillwave is a registered NITA centre and an approved trade testing centre |
Skillwave is a TVETA-accredited college. Our TVET programmes are assessed and certified by TVET CDACC; our nursing programme is regulated by the Nursing Council of Kenya.
Where this comes from
We publish our sources so you can check us.
- Kenya National Qualifications Authority — the framework and its levels: knqa.go.ke
- TVET CDACC: tvetcdacc.go.ke
- Nursing Council of Kenya: nckenya.org
- Commission for University Education: cue.or.ke
- KUCCPS: kuccps.net
Last reviewed 11 August 2026. Rules change — if you are reading this well after that date, confirm with the authority named before you act on it.
This is a guide, not the rule book. Kenya’s qualification rules change, and the regulator always wins. Every page here names its sources and the date we last checked them — verify anything that decides your money or your career directly with the authority named, or ask us and we will check it with you.
Still not sure where you fit?
Send one short form with your grade and we will tell you exactly what you qualify for — on the phone, with a person.