By Mapaballo Borotho

- Gauteng parents with outstanding documents for their Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications have been urged to submit them by 12 pm on 11 September 2026.
- The provincial Department of Education received more than 805,000 applications, but clarified that this figure includes multiple applications made by individual learners to different schools.
- More than 346,000 unique learners applied for placement, with placement offers expected to start being issued on 15 October.
Gauteng parents and guardians with outstanding documents for their Grade 1 and Grade 8 school applications have been urged to submit them by 12pm on 11 September 2026.
This comes after the 2027 online admissions process closed at midnight on Friday, 4 September 2026.
The province recorded more than 346,000 individual learners applying for placement in Gauteng public schools for the 2027 academic year.
The Gauteng Department of Education says it received 805,688 Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications during the admissions process.
However, Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile has clarified that the figure does not represent the number of individual learners seeking placement, as parents and guardians are allowed to apply to more than one school.
“A total of 357,468 parents and guardians registered on the online admissions system, while 346,877 individual learners applied for placement in the two entry grades. This includes 169,396 unique Grade 1 learners and 177,481 unique Grade 8 learners,” said Maile.
Maile says the figures provide a clear picture of the scale of demand for public education in the province, with available capacity coming under increasing pressure.
He says the closure of the admissions period has also provided the department with an important picture of the demand for school placements across Gauteng.
Parents who have outstanding documents are urged to submit them by 12pm on Friday, 11 September 2026 to ensure their applications can be processed.
Placement offers are expected to start being issued from 15 October, with parents given seven days to accept or decline an offer.
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