The 2024 Gauteng school applications period ran from 15 June and closed on 21 July 2023.
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) received a staggering 700 000 admission applications through its online admissions system. The large volume of applications received by the department raised concerns that not all learners will be able to attend their preferred schools.
Parents and caregivers who submitted admission applications during the application period began receiving placement offers from Monday, 4 September 2023. Giving an update on the placement process, the GDE has revealed that since commencing with the placement of learners over 220 000 applicants have already received placement offers.
According to the department, 99 854 applicants have accepted placement offers as final from one of the schools applied to and a total of 1 662 parents accepted placement offers while awaiting further offers.
A substantial total of 126 511 parents have not responded to placement offers.
How Placement Offers Will Be Communicated
These placement offers are be sent to parents via SMS via the cellphone number the parent/guardian provided during the application. The GDE reminded parents that they have seven days to accept or decline a placement offer.
They stressed, “Offers not accepted within 7 schools will be auto placed at the school with a placement offer closest to the parent’s home address.”
Furthermore, parents are also urged not to panic if they do not receive an SMS notification with a placement offer as they can check their application statuses via the GDE online website as well.
Applicants are welcome to use their credentials to log on to www.gdeadmissions.gov.za to check whether a placement offer was issued or not.
What Your Application Status Means
Here's a breakdown of what your application status means:
- Application is being processed: The application is awaiting offer of placement. There is no offer from any of the schools applied to. These parents then have to wait for a placement offer.
- Placement offer made: A school has given a learner offer of placement. These parent have to accept the offer within 7 days.
- Placed: Applicant qualifies for placement in ONLY ONE of the schools applied to and is automatically placed.
- Accepted as Final: Parents accepted the offer as final, and the learner is placed.
- Provisionally Accepted: Parents accepted an offer of placement but is still awaiting offers from other schools.
How To Accept A Placement Offer
Once parents receive a placement offer from the department, they must visit the Gauteng Online Admissions website to confirm the offer as final or to accept while keeping an eye out for other options.
The Department said if the SMS states that a child has been placed at a certain school, it is regarded as a successful final placement to the mentioned school. These parents are not required to visit the admissions website to accept the offer.
There will be no need for a parent/guardian to access the system to accept an offer in that regard because the child would be placed at the mentioned school to secure placement.
What Happens If Your Child Is Not Placed?
According to the department all learner placements are subject to the priority of placement criteria and availability of space per school.
Therefore, applicants that cannot be accommodated at schools they applied to due to the schools having reached capacity, will receive transfer offers of placement at the next closest school with available space.
Transfer offers are made only after confirmation that none of the schools which a parent applied to has available space. Parents and guardians who are offered placement at schools that they have not applied to have the option to accept or decline the placement offer.
However, if parents are not satisfied with the school allocated to their child are afforded the option to raise objections. This objection process can be done online, where parents can object to a specific school placement.
If we gave you a school that you didn't apply to and you feel that don't want it, you must give us reasons during the objection process
In cases where an objection is rejected, parents can escalate the matter to the MEC (Member of Executive Council) for Education, who may reconsider the decision. Information about the objection process, as well as office locations and contact details, will be made available on all GDE social media platforms.
Gauteng 2024 Late Applications
Gauteng schools late applications for the 2024 academic year will open 11 December 2023 and parents will have until 21 December 2023 to submit their applications.
This will give parents who missed the initial application deadline 10 days to submit and apply for the 2024 school year.
The department says there were also 35 031 incomplete applications which will be eligible to apply for late placements in December.
Should parents and guardians require any further information or assistance they are welcome to interact with the departments call centre agents on 0800 000 789 or WhatsApp on 060 891 0361.
