Selcourt Primary School is ninth on the list of top 20 primary schools in Gauteng with the highest number of applications.

This was revealed on Friday when the Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Matome Chiloane, held a briefing to provide an update on the 2026 online admissions application period for Grade One and Grade Eight, which closes on August 29 at midnight.

“All public ordinary schools, district offices, and our 81 decentralised walk-in centres will remain open to assist parents with applications until the system closes. No new applications will be accepted after the application period has closed.

“We are excited to announce that, as of August 21, a total of 738 445 Grade One and Grade Eight applications were recorded by the GDE Online Admissions System,” explained Chiloane.

Number of Applications:
• Grade One: 315 865
• Grade Eight: 422 580
• Total: 738 445

Parents and guardians who have already applied to schools are reminded that certified copies of documents must be submitted to schools or uploaded online by noon on September 9.

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• A certified copy of the proof of home address is a very important document, as it is used to determine placement.

• Applicants who have not submitted or uploaded certified copies of proof of home address by September 9 will have incomplete applications.

• Equally, applicants who uploaded or submitted fraudulent or invalid documents will forfeit the opportunity to receive placement offers.

During the 2026 online admissions application period, each application made to a school may display one of the following statuses relating to document submission and verification on the parent’s profile. Here’s the meaning of each status:

• Awaiting verification: The school(s) have not yet verified the documents uploaded by the parent

• No documents submitted: The parent has not submitted/uploaded any documents. Parent must upload or submit documents without delay

• Missing home address: The parent has not submitted/uploaded proof of home address. Parent must upload/submit the document without delay

• Missing documents: The parent has not submitted/uploaded all required documents. One or more of the required documents are outstanding. Applicants should receive an SMS notifying them to upload/submit outstanding documents

• Partially Verified: The school(s) verified some of the uploaded/submitted documents while others will be verified by the school in due course

• All documents verified: The school(s) verified all of the uploaded/submitted documents

“To date, a total of 97 719 incomplete applications are recorded,” said Chiloane.

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Of these:
• 20 265 registered parent details only (step 1 and 2) – no learner registered, no application made to any school, and no documents uploaded/submitted

• 30 547 registered parent and learner details only (step 1–3) – but failed to apply to any schools or upload/submit documents

• 46 907 registered parent and learner details, and applied to schools (step 1–4) – but failed to submit/upload documents, or submitted/uploaded documents could not be confirmed or validated

• All parents under this category of incomplete applications must complete the five-step application process (including selection of schools, submit/upload documents) by August 29 to qualify for placement offers.

• Additional time to upload/submit documents is allowed up to midday on September 9 only for those who applied on August 29.

The department has identified a number of high-pressure areas where schools received an overwhelming number of applicants, exceeding the capacity of learners that each school can accommodate:

• Approximately 277 of 1 408 primary schools registered more applicants than the available capacity

• Approximately 221 of 674 secondary schools registered more applicants than the available capacity

• Applicants that cannot be accommodated in schools that have reached capacity are transferred to the next closest school with available space

• 19 new or satellite schools were established between 2024 and 2025

• Primary schools increased from 1 403 to 1 408

• Secondary schools increased from 660 to 674