• Western Cape parents and guardians can now check the school placement statuses of their children for the 2024 academic year.
• Applications for Grade 1 to Grade 8 learners opened on 13th March 2023 and closed on 25th May 2023.
• You will have to confirm the school placement yourself on the Western Cape Education Department’s online portal.

Provinces across the country are allowing parents and guardians to register their children for the 2024 academic year, primarily those between Grade 1 and Grade 8.

The provinces expecting to see the most depand for school placements have launching online registration portals. Monday will see the Western Cape’s portal open so parents can see the outcomes of their application.

This is according to Western Cape Education Department (WCED) MEC David Maynier, who added that schools have been applying their admission policies over the past few weeks to determine successful applications.

He says that parents and guardians can check outcomes, including school placements, here.

The Western Cape launched its 2024 public school learner enrollment programme on 13th March, much earlier than many of the other provinces. Parents could apply until 25th May 2023.

It now seems that applications are closed and placements are complete.

Maynier, in a press statement, says that parents can expect to see the list of schools applied to, with the outcome of applications to each school visible.

The page should look like in the image below:

Like in the above, statuses will be listed on the far left beneath “Application Status.” If successful, you will be asked to confirm and accept the placement with a blue button “Confirm.”

Maynier says that parents who have been offered a place must confirm their choice of school by 19th June 2023. If they have not done so, their highest-ranked choice of school will be automatically confirmed for them.

“We appeal to parents to confirm their places as soon as possible, as this will free up places for other learners. This is especially important where a learner has received offers from multiple schools. Once these ‘double parked’ learners are confirmed to a specific school, the places at the other schools can be offered to other learners,” the MEC said.

Once confirmation takes place, parents are then required to bring hard copy documents from their application to their school of choice within the next seven days.

If you check the application statuses but see that none have yet to be confirmed, Maynier advises parents not to stress. It is still very early in the applications process.

“There will be learners who are not successful in getting placed during this first initial phase. We know that this is extremely stressful and disappointing, but we appeal to parents to bear in mind that we are still very early in the admissions process, and thousands of places will still open up,” he says.

“If you do not get a place at any school within the next few months, the WCED will assist you with placement.”

If you have checked the site but are encountering technical problems, you can call 0860 142 142 for technical assistance, or email service[AT]westerncape[DOT]gov[DOT]za.

Additionally, even though the online portal is closed, parents can still apply at the nearest education district office in the province and should do so as soon as possible. They will have to complete a learner placement form (PDF) and submit it in person.

Final placements will occur in September.

[Image – Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash]