When it comes to having a child, the day you have to apply for grade 1 and grade 8 are major milestones which might cause parents to shed a tear or two. However, preparation is needed to secure a spot for your child.
As the 2024 school year continues and preparations for the 2025 school year commence, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has now announced when school admission applications for the next school year will open.
In a statement released, the WCED announced:
The admissions window for the 2025 school year opens in just 10 days’ time, on Monday, 11 March 2024.
2025 school admission applications for Grade 1 and 8 will open at midnight on 11 March 2024 and close at midnight on 12 April 2024. WCED has said that this first admission window will only cater for applications for Grade 1 and 8.
Should you want to apply for Grade R for your child or a transfer between schools in Grades 2 to 7 and Grades 9 to 12, you will be able to do so from 1 August 2024 until 16 August 2024.
The department urges, "We appeal to all parents and guardians with children entering Grade 1 and Grade 8 next year to please start gathering and certifying the necessary documentation required for their applications, so that they are ready to apply when the admissions window opens".
Documents Needed For WCED School Application
- The last official school Report Card
- Proof of identity:
- ID, Birth certificate, or passport of the learner,
- In the case of a foreign learner: a passport, or a study permit or proof of application for a study permit, or a copy of the parent’s Asylum seeker or Refugee Permit
- OR A police affidavit if these documents are not available
- Immunisation card (Road to Health Chart) [Primary Schools only]
- Proof of Residence (Rates account, Lease agreement, an affidavit confirming residence)
The applications process including uploading documents should take around 15 minutes only. It's also important to remember that you will need to submit the hard copies of the above mentioned documents later in the year to the final school your child is accepted to.
To make things easier and provide assistance, WCED has made venues across the province available.There will be pop-up admission sites at over 120 sites which includes shopping malls, schools and other facilities, in all 8 education districts.
Parents without access to internet facilities or need assistance applying online should take advantage of this.
We would like as many parents and guardians as possible to apply on time so that we can use this data to plan ahead and further improve the placement process in our province.
2025 School Calendar
The 2025 school calendar will run from 15 January to 10 December, making it a total of 199 school days.
Typically, schools situated within inland provinces will have a different starting date than schools located in coastal provinces, usually with a week's difference between the two groups. For 2025, schools across the country will open on the same date (15 January 2025) for the first term and will close on the same date, 52 school days later (28 March 2025).
