The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) says it has made significant inroads in reducing the number of learners on placement lists for the 2026 academic year.
The department says this is despite receiving an alarming number of extremely late school applications since the start of the year.
According to the department’s director of communications, Bronagh Hammond, the department has received over 26,000 extremely late applications in Grade R. 1 and 8 alone since 1 January.
Additionally, over 2500 applications were received between 2 February and 11 February 2026.
“This is nearly a year AFTER the application period first opened!” added Hammond
Hammond says, despite the volume of extremely late and new applications, the department has placed over 26,000 learners since the beginning of the year.
This has reduced the number of in progress of placement to 272 Grade 1s, 322 Grade 8s and 1,089 Grade Rs, as of 11 February.
This brings the total number of placements in progress for Grades R, 1 and 8 to 1,683.
The WCED says these numbers have already been reduced in the past 6 days, with updated figures being verified.
