The Gauteng department of education received 805,688 applications for grade 1 and grade 8 placements for the 2027 academic year.A total of 357,468 parents and guardians registered on the Online Admissions System before it closed at midnight on Friday.Gauteng education MEC Lebogang Maile revealed the figures on Sunday. He cautioned that the number of applications does not represent the number of individual learners seeking placement, as parents are allowed to apply to more than one school.“The system recorded 169,396 unique grade 1 learners and 177,481 unique grade 8 learners, representing a combined 346,877 individual learners seeking placement in the two entry grades,” he said.Maile said the figures highlight the immense scale of the department’s task, while also showing that demand is heavily concentrated around certain schools and geographical areas.Breaking down the figures, Maile said some schools faced particularly high demand. At grade 8 level, Hoërskool Langenhoven in Tshwane West received the highest number of applications, with 3,462, followed by Alberton High School with 2,756 and Katlehong Secondary School with 2,747.Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation received 2,573 applications, while Parktown Boys’ High School recorded 2,448.At grade 1 level, Laerskool Akasia received the highest number of applications, with 1,355, followed by Palmridge Primary School with 1,330, Alston Primary School with 1,207, Lakeside Primary School with 1,162 and Stoneridge Primary School with 1,153.“These figures are more than admissions statistics. They tell us where families are settling, where communities are expanding, where parental demand is concentrated and where the public education system is experiencing the greatest pressure.“They must also compel us to rethink how existing public-school capacity is utilised”.He said the province could not sustain a situation where one public school is overwhelmed by thousands of applications while another, sometimes only a few kilometres away, has available classrooms or declining enrolment.These figures are more than admissions statistics. They tell us where families are settling, where communities are expanding, where parental demand is concentrated and where the public education system is experiencing the greatest pressure.— Lebogang MaileMaile said the conclusion of the application period does not mean placement offers will be issued immediately. Before placements can begin, submitted documents must be verified for authenticity.Once schools complete the verification process, applications will be submitted to the relevant district offices for quality assurance to ensure that placement outcomes are consistent with the application options and supporting documents.He urged parents and guardians with outstanding documents to submit certified copies by noon on September 11. He warned that proof of home address is particularly important because it is used to determine placement.Applications without valid certified proof of address by the deadline, or those supported by fraudulent or invalid documents, will be considered incomplete and will not receive placement offers.Sowetan