Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors that influence access to secondary education, and strategies for improving access to secondary education in Kenya.

Design/methodology/approach
– A logit model estimated using the Welfare Monitoring Household Survey while a simulation model is used to evaluate some of the strategies for improving access to secondary school education.

Findings
– The main determinants of access to secondary school education at household level include household's income, education level of household head, household residence, sex of child, availability of schools, and age of student.

Research limitations/implications
– Factor such as property ownership by household and indirect costs to schooling not adequately captured due to non-responses.

Practical implications
– Strategies for expanding secondary school education include: expansion of infrastructure through strong partnerships, enhancing efficiency in use of human and financial resources, developing sustainable poverty reduction and resource targeting mechanisms, increasing household awareness on the importance of secondary school education, and addressing gender disparities.

Originality/value
– The value of the paper is in its innovativeness to empirically estimate factors that determine access to secondary education and simulate resource requirements for secondary school education with the aim of identifying appropriate strategies for improving access.