For admission of your child to Grade 1 in a public school, apply online during the dates specified by the Gauteng Department of Education GDE.

Parents/guardians with children going to Grade 1 are reminded to log on to www.gdeadmissions.gov.za to apply to a school. Assistance regarding online applications is also available at any walk-in centre or school in your area. Parents/guardians are required to provide one reliable cellphone number to receive a username and password, and other important information about the child’s application.

All applicants need to remember to upload certified copies of required documents on the system or submit documents to the schools they applied to within 7 days of making the application. Parents/guardians are urged to log on to the system and accept offers of placement that will be sent via SMS.

Parents who wish to apply for Grade R and Grades 2 – 7 at a public school in Gauteng must apply directly at their identified school(s) and not on the GDE Online Admissions System.

Parents and guardians are urged to interact directly with our school office to receive guidance on how and when to apply for these grades. Please contact our admissions office on 011 782 5406 or e-mail admissions@bpschool.org.za.

Before making an application for Grade 1 during the Online Admissions application period, parents must have certified copies of the following documents:

• Parent/Guardian ID OR Passport.
• Child ID OR South African Birth Certificate OR Passport.
• Refugee Permit OR Asylum Seeker Permit OR Permanent Residence Permit OR Study Permit.
• Proof of Residential/Home Address.
• Acceptable proof of residential/home address is a certified copy of a valid municipal account in the name of the applicant parent OR a lease agreement signed by both the applicant and the landlord as well as the ID document of the landlord specifying the names of the tenants.
• Please note: an application cannot be processed without the proof of residential home address of the applicant’s parent.
• Proof of Work Address (Optional, for those applying at a school closer to work).
• Latest School Report and Clinic Card Immunisation Report (For Grade 1 applications only).

NB:

1. Parents must upload certified copies of required documents on the GDE Online Admissions System (www.gdeadmissions.gov.za) OR submit certified copies of required documents to all the schools applied to within 7 days.
2. Parents cannot both upload and submit documents.
3. Parents must ensure that the details they enter into the System when applying match the information of the documents they upload or submit.

GDE Admissions Contact Details

www.gdeadmissions.gov.za  

or call: 0800 000 789

WhatsApp: 060 891 0361 

When applying for the Gauteng Department of Education GDE Admission online for your child, you should follow three important steps in the application process. These stages include:

Entering the details of the parent/legal guardian

Entering the learner’s details

Applying to a school

GDE online registration – GDE registration

Step 1: Enter details of the parent/legal guardian (GDE registration)

First of all, you have to press the “GDE Apply” button or click Register when you open the official website of the GDE. You must accept the Terms and Conditions and click Continue to proceed with an application. Then you will proceed to the page where you would need to type your information.

When the “Enter Parent/Guardian Details” form appears, you have to fill in every field marked with an asterisk. The required information consists of the municipality, street name and number, your phone number, and so on. Then, you will have to enter your South African ID number. You can leave the fields with the landline and email address.

In the application process, you will have to create a username as well as a password. You will need this password while accessing the main application. The password has to be unique and consists of 8 characters, including a capital letter, small letters, a special character, and numbers. Do not forget it, write it down, and keep it in a safe place. However, if you forget the password or username, you can reset it.

Step 2: Include the information about the learner

On the next page titled Enter Learners Details you have to:

Fill in the information of your child including the fact whether the learner is South African or not, the identification number, province, and the current grade.

Once you have filled all the required fields, you should click the “Submit Learner Details” button.

Step 3: Applying to a school (GDE online application)

Choose an application option. You will have to select one of the options: home address, sibling, work address, a school within a 30-kilometer radius, school beyond a 30-kilometer radius, and school of focus learning. There are also two options that you can use for placement but not for application; they are boarding school and previous school.

• When you select the “home address” or “work address” option, the system will automatically filter the schools and ask you to choose one from the options that are either close to your home or work.
• If you choose the “sibling” option, it is possible to apply to a school where the sibling studies. It is needed to give the information about the sibling including their name, surname, and the school.
• If you decide to use the option considering the school within or beyond the 30-kilometer radius of your home address, the system will provide you with all the schools within or beyond the radius so you can select a certain school.
• The last option you can opt for is “school of focus learning”, the list of such types of schools will pop up. The learner will have to complete admission tests. 

You can apply to a maximum of 5 schools per child. 

After finalizing the application form, you can press “Submit Application”, and the application is made. 

Application Confirmation SMS. You will get an SMS that will confirm the successful submission of an application. You would be given a Waiting List reference number that will appear on the screen. The number means that your application was actually submitted. Please check if you get the SMS because in case you do not receive it, you have to ensure that you have done everything in a proper way. 

Note that after you have received the Waiting List reference number, as a parent, you still have the privilege of applying again. After submitting your first application, you will have three options to choose from. You can press “Apply to another school for the same learner”, “Apply for another learner” or the Logoff button. 

There are six types of Waiting List reference numbers that you can receive. They are:

• WA1 – Parent is living closest to the school in the feeder zone
• WA2 – A child has a sibling at the school
• WA3 – Parent works within a feeder zone of a school
• WA4 – Parent’s home address is within a 30-kilometer radius of a school
• WB – Parent’s home address is beyond a 30-kilometer radius of a school
• WA5 – Schools of focus learning 

Documents to Submit to the Schools You have applied for Admission

Once you are done with your online registration, you would be required to submit the following documents to the school that you chose while applying. The list of all the necessary documents will appear on the confirmation note of application for SA citizens and Non-SA citizens. 

Therefore, when the child is entering into Grade 1, the following are the documents that you will need to submit:

• Your identification document as the parent or legal guardian
• The birth certificate of the learner
• Proof of your home or work address
• Immunization/clinic document which should prove that the child does not have tuberculosis, tetanus, hepatitis B, polio, measles, and diphtheria (if the child is applying as Grade 1 learner)
• If the child is in another school, you will need to supply the most recent report of the child 

However, if the learner is non-South African, you should submit the documents including:

• The passport of the parent or legal guardian
• Proof of your home or work address
• The Asylum Seeker or Refugee Permit of the child 

Make sure that you bring all these documents within the period of seven days of the online application for school admission.

GDE Online Video Instructions

For help on how to use the system, please watch the instructional video for assistance.