Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, has provided an update on the school admission process for 2025 and announced that they have already issued close to 300,000 placements to parents of the Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners.
The department said it has received around 828,364 applications for 2025 admission.
Chiloane gave an update on September 19, that to date, 148,744 offers have been accepted, while about 105,193 offers are still to be accepted by parents.
“This comes after the start of the 2025 online admissions placement period for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learners. Of these, 146,385 offers were made for Grade 1 and 146,672 for Grade 8.”
Chiloane reassured parents that placement offers will continue throughout the year with offers being sent out in batches.
He encouraged parents to log on to the online admissions website within seven days of receiving the offer to either accept the offer as final or decline the offer.
He said parents can provisionally accept the offer while awaiting other offers.
“Accepting an offer keeps the child in the placement process while awaiting further offers. If a new offer is accepted, the previous one will be cancelled. If no further offers are made within seven days, the last accepted offer becomes final.”
Chiloane stressed that placement offers will be issued continuously until all learners are placed.
He said parents should not panic if they do not receive an SMS immediately, saying that they can log into the department’s website to check for placement updates.
“If an SMS confirms a child's placement at a specific school, no further action is required from the parent, as the child is considered placed at that school. All placements are subject to the availability of space and the priority placement criteria.”
He said If a school reaches capacity and cannot accommodate a learner, parents will then receive a transfer offer for the next closest school with available space.
“Parents can choose to accept or decline transfer offers. Parents should take note that, If an application status is marked as ‘application still being processed,’ it means an offer will be made in due course, as such parents should not panic.”
Chiloane said they have noted some concerns from parents whose application statuses changed from ‘documents verified’ to ‘no documents submitted.’
He said the change is the result of a careful review process where submitted documents were checked for authenticity, legibility, and completeness.
“Applications flagged as ‘no documents submitted’ will only be considered for placement during the late registration period from December 11.”
He said parents who are not satisfied with the placements they received can submit objections using an online form within seven days.
“Objections will be reviewed, and outcomes provided within 14 days. If unsatisfied with the objection outcome, parents can submit an appeal to the MEC within seven days, which will be resolved within 14 to 21 days. Appeals are final and binding.”
He encouraged parents who need assistance and clarification regarding their application or placement status, to contact the department and also visit any of 15 district offices across the province for further support in the admissions process.
"We remain committed to placing all learners fairly. We thank parents for their patience and cooperation as we work diligently to secure placements for learners in Gauteng public schools," Chiloane said.
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