The Western Cape provincial government has announced that it has received 102 680 applications for Grade 1 and 8 for 2025.

This is an increase of 5 936 on last year’s on-time window, during which applications for 96 744 Grade 1 and 8 learners were received.

The admissions window closed on Friday, 12 April 2024, at midnight.

‘We thank the parents who put in the effort to apply on time, helping us to plan for a place for their child in a school next year,’ the Western Cape Education Department said on Wednesday.

After the deadline, all late applications will be considered only after those received on time.

Parents will still be able to capture late applications on the online system until 12 May 2024, but they will be flagged as late applications.

The provincial department said parents of students in Grades 1 and 8 who are planning to relocate to the Western Cape, but have missed the online application deadline of 12 May 2024, or have not applied for any other reason, should get in touch with their distric
t office immediately for assistance.

‘We urge parents not to wait until the last minute to apply,’ the department added.

The window for Grade R applications and transfer requests for Grades 2 to 7 and Grades 9 to 11 will run from 1 to 16 August 2024.

Meanwhile, now that on-time applications have closed, schools will have a little over a month to consider all the applications they have received.

Parents are reminded that they do not need to drop off their certified hard copies at this stage. They will only need to do so once they have received an offer from a school and accepted the offer as their final choice of school.

‘Parents will start seeing the outcomes of their applications online from 30 May 2024, and we will remind them of this as the date approaches. The date has been shifted by a day from 29 May 2024 to accommodate the public holiday for the general election.’

Parents must then accept or decline successful offers before 14 June 2024, and the department encouraged them to do so as quickly as p
ossible.

‘It is important for parents to confirm their choice of school speedily when they have received offers from multiple schools. These parents are essentially ‘double parking’ on the system, stopping schools from offering these places to other applicants until they make their choice.’

If a parent has not confirmed their choice by 14 June 2024, the system will automatically confirm their top-ranked school that has made an offer.

All other offers will then be removed, so that those places can be offered to other learners.

‘Parents who do not receive an offer on 30 May 2024 should not be disheartened as places always open up as parents confirm their final choices. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to place every learner whose parents applied on time as quickly as possible.’

Source: South African Government News Agency