By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane confirmed that late applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 learner placements for the 2026 academic year will open on 17 December 2025 and run until the end of January 2026.
Chiloane held a media briefing on the latest progress on learner placements for the 2026 academic year.
‘With late applications, you will only be allowed to apply at schools you see on system. Oversubscribed schools will not appear. As you apply, you get placed – it’s automatic placement.”
Parents with incomplete applications are urged to reapply and upload all required documents.
Chiloane said the department received 820 354 online applications, which included duplicates, but the number of unique applications totalled 358 574 across Grades 1 and 8.
He said the province had placed 87% of completed applications, amounting to 317 988 pupils.
We are left with 40 586 pupils who still need placement,” he said, adding that this includes 15 530 Grade 1s and 25 056 Grade 8s.
Although the province has 87 000 open spaces, Chiloane emphasised that “the problem is not the number of spaces, but where they are located. These spaces that are required are in areas which are oversubscribed. These are high-pressure areas.”
He said Gauteng’s population shifts have created immense pressure in inner-city and established suburban districts such as Johannesburg East, Johannesburg North, Tshwane West and Ekurhuleni.
During a briefing to the portfolio committee on basic education on Tuesday, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) indicated that 140 179 pupils are still to be placed across the country.
According to the DBE, “58.6% of all unplaced learners come from Gauteng”, accounting for the highest number of unplaced admissions for 2026.
Meanwhile Parliament has rejected a motion seeking to review and replace the longstanding 30% matric minimum subject threshold, igniting fierce political backlash and renewed debate over South Africa’s education standards.
The motion, tabled by Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane, was defeated on Tuesday night by 190 votes to 87.
MPs from the ANC, DA, Patriotic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus and Al Jama-ah voted against the proposal, while the EFF, IFP, MK party, ActionSA, Rise Mzansi, ATM and ACDP supported it.
The PAC, UAT and UDM were absent from the sitting.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube warned MPs against “distortions” of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) pass requirements.
“It is essential [for] the public, parents, teachers and students to hear the facts clearly without distortion,” she said. “There is no such thing as a 30% overall pass mark in the NSC.”
Gwarube stressed that matriculants must meet a “three-tiered set of subject requirements,” which include at least 40% in home language, 40% in two other subjects and 30% in three additional subjects.
She added, “Out of the 724 000 students who wrote the NSC last year, only 189 passed with the minimum subject combination requirement. That is just 0.003% of the overall numbers.”
The minister said the idea that pupils “pass matric with 30%” is a “misunderstanding and perhaps a distortion”. She said the real crisis lies earlier in the system, especially in reading.