Thembisa Shologu
The Gauteng Education Department (GDE) has so far successfully processed a total of 557 826 Grade 1 and 8 applications through the Online Admission System.
As of 03 August 2022, the department had recorded 234 940 applications for Grade 1 and 322 886 applications for Grade 8.
The 2023 Online Admissions applications which opened on Friday, 22 July - will close on Monday,19 August at midnight.
The GDE's school's online registration system was initiated to prevent long queues and encourage a tech-savvy school registration process.
A notable improvement this year is that parents can now register on the admissions website without uploading all the required documentation. This was not possible in previous years. 
Additional improvements will allow parents to enter their ID numbers, and their other information will automatically be populated in the required fields.
Parents will also be able to use their live location as an address reference point. This makes it easier to apply for schools within your home address' feeder zone.
The system has been tested to handle 40 000 concurrent users at any given time, performing a total of 120 000 complete applications in one hour.
The department said all learners in Grade R at a school or Early Childhood Development Centre must be applied for, using the GDE Online Admissions System to be accepted at a school for Grade 1 in the 2023 academic year.
"No Grade R learner will be automatically accepted into Grade 1 at any Gauteng public school without applying online", said the department.
Parents who apply to Schools of Specialisation must ensure that they contact the school to arrange for the auditions or admission tests while those applying for residence at boarding schools must first confirm acceptance within the school. 
Parents and guardians who wish to apply for Grade R, Grades 2-7, and Grades 9-12 must apply directly at their identified school(s)and not on the GDE Online Admission System.
Applications can be completed at www.gdeadmissions.gov.za where they can create a unique login credentials.
Applicants who do not have internet access or the resources required to apply, can visit their nearest district office or the 48 dedicated decentralised walk-in centres for assistance. A total of 105 libraries are also available to assist parents to apply.
Information on the centres and libraries is available on the GDE website and social media platforms.
After applying, parents will receive an SMS notification of placement offers to either accept or decline from 3 – 31 October 2022.
Here are the documents required for online admissions:
Parent and Child ID or Passport or Refugee Permit or Asylum Seeker
Permit or Permanent Residence Permit or Study Permit
South African Birth Certificate
Proof of Home Address
Proof of Work Address
Latest School Report
Clinic Card/Vaccination report (for grade 1)
Parents and guardians will be given up until 26 August 2022 - 7 days after the application period ends - to upload or submit these documents.
To eliminate the risk of overlooking an applicant with uploaded documents by a school, schools will receive an auto alert each time new documents are uploaded. The system will highlight all uploaded documents for verification.
"Applications submitted with no documents will be considered as incomplete and will only receive placement offers at schools with available space from 1 –15 December 2022," the department said. 
To increase the chances of placement closer to the home address, parents are advised to select schools with feeder zones. 
Placement will be conducted as per the following admission regulations:
·        Home address within feeder zone
·        Siblings
·        Work address
·        Within 30 km Radius
·        Beyond 30km Radius
Parents and guardians who experience challenges during the application period are encouraged to visit district offices and decentralised walk-in centres or call the GDE's contact centre at 0800 000 789 or WhatsApp at 060 891 0361.