[Alliance High School students in a past event. The school is among academic giants which have produced unimpressive results in the last two years. Photo/Nation]
With Pangani Girls and Moi Girls Eldoret making dramatic comback in 2017 Kenya Certificate for Secondary School education (KCSE), a number of top schools failed to feature.
Education Minister Fred Matiang'i released the results at Nairobi School on Wednesday, a move that met many Kenyans by surprise.
Among the top ten performers, the two schools produced five with Alliance High, Maranda, Mary Hill, Kanga and Lenana School producing one each.
For the second successive year, traditional academic giants Mang'u High, Starehe Boys, Alliance Girls, Loreto- Limuru, Limuru Girls and Strathmore School have failed to impress.
Others whose results has diminished substantially include Maseno School, Musingu High, Friends School Kamusinga, Kisii School and Kianda school.
Also in the list is Alliance High, which only managed to produce one student in top ten despite dominating for over two decades along with Moi Kabarak.
Only 142 candidates managed to score straight As which the A- grade reducing from last years's 4,645 to 2,714.
Equally, at least ten schools had their results withheld over exam cheating with Matiang'i insisting that the ministry is carrying out investigations.