Registering your child for school in 2012

Section 29 (1) of South Africa's Constitution reads: "Everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic education; and to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible." According to the South African Schools Act of 1996, schooling is compulsory for all South Africans from the age of seven (grade 1) to the age of 15, or the completion of grade 9.  

You must enroll your child in a school between 1 August and 31 September of the preceding year the department of Education has advised parents. The age of a child entering grade 1 is age five (5) turning six (6) by 30 June in the year of admission. For grade 0 (otherwise known as grade R - the reception year), the age is four turning five by 30 June in the year of admission.

If parents feel their children are not yet ready for school, they are allowed to admit them at an older age - five turning six for grade 0, and six turning seven for grade 1. Many schools conduct school-readiness tests to determine if a later admission would be in the child's best interests.

Schooling runs from grade 0 (the reception year also known as grade R) through to grade 12. Grades 1 to 9 are compulsory, and classified as General Education and Training. Grades 10 to 12 are considered to be Further Education and Training.

Grade 12 is the year of matriculation, which is required (with certain minimum conditions) for tertiary education. Some private schools also offer a post-matric "sixth form" year which allows students to sit for A-level examinations.

For public schools, the only documents parents are required to supply when applying to admit their child to school are:

  • the child's birth certificate
  • the child's immunisation card
  • a transfer card or last school report, if the child has already been to another school

A child may be registered provisionally if these documents are not immediately available, and the parents must be given a reasonable time to submit them.

A parent may register his or her child at any public school, if there are vacancies. But most schools have a feeder zone, an area the school is obliged to favour when admitting students. The order of preference for admission to schools is:

  • Children whose parents live in the school's feeder zone - this includes parents who live at their place of work, such as domestic workers.
  • Children whose parents work in the feeder zone.
  • The rest are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis, and may be placed on a waiting list.

However, the provincial department of education is obliged to find a place in school for every learner. The feeder zone system does not apply to private or independent schools, which generally have far more stringent admission requirements than public schools.

For state schools, the Department of Education has a database of schools across the country in MS Excel format, which includes school addresses and contact details.

No school can refuse to accept your child - unless the child has already been expelled from that particular school. All schools must admit students without discrimination of any kind. Schools may not administer tests, or use pre-school experience or language as reasons not to enrol a child. Admission may not be refused because parents or guardians:

  • are unable to pay, or haven't paid, school fees
  • have not provided documents - such as household water and electricity accounts - that prove the parent's ability to pay school fees
  • do not subscribe to the school's mission statement
  • have refused to sign an indemnity contract
  • are unable to afford all or part of the school uniform


If you encounter any problems in registering your child at any school - call the Department of Education's toll-free hotline on 0800 202 933, contact your provincial education department, or contact the Education Rights Project.

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Page created: 12 September 2011