HELB Confirms Extended Application Portal Downtime Following Scheduled Maintenance.
The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has issued a notice to applicants who are experiencing technical errors when trying to apply for loans and scholarships for the 2025/2026 academic year. The notice was published on 7th July 2025 after many applicants reported system generated error messages before the September 2024 KCSE cohort starts university and college studies.
HELB has confirmed that some applicants have received error messages that their National Identification Number is already activated on another device. In a statement, HELB said: “Seeing an error on the HELB App that your National ID is already activated on another device? Don’t worry. Just send us a direct message with your registered phone number and National ID and we’ll help you resolve it ASAP.”
All affected applicants are advised to contact HELB through official channels including phone lines and verified social media pages to verify and resolve their access credentials.
The errors occurred after the planned service interruption that started on 3rd July 2025. On that day, HELB announced that the Higher Education Financing Portal would be under maintenance to improve the platform and service delivery. The statement said: “The Higher Education Financing Portal is under maintenance to improve service. Downtime will be at least 72 hours.” The maintenance was completed on 7th July 2025.
The 3 days of downtime coincided with the opening of the application window for both new and continuing applicants. This resulted in a backlog of applicants who couldn’t access the system including students who had just received their placement letters to public universities, TVET institutions and KMTC.
HELB has confirmed that eligible applicants for 2025/2026 are:
- First year undergraduate students placed by KUCCPS;
- Continuing students in public universities and constituent colleges;
- Students in accredited TVET institutions;
- Students admitted to KMTC.
All applicants must use their National Identification Numbers and registered mobile phone numbers to complete the authentication process before submitting applications.HELB
HELB Confirms Extended Application Portal Downtime Following Scheduled Maintenance.