The Delhi government’s Department of Education (DoE) on Tuesday announced that the admission process for Nursery, KG and Class 1 in the city’s unaided recognised schools for the 2025-26 session will begin on November 28.

This will cover students below six years of age for open seats or general category admissions except those belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS), disadvantaged categories (DC) as well as children with special needs (CWSN). The department has instructed the schools to reserve 25% of the seats for EWS, DG and CWSN students.

According to the DoE, a computerised draw of lots for online applications from CWSN students was conducted on Tuesday. The selected candidates will be informed about their allotted schools through messages within 24 hours of the draw, it said in a statement. For the EWS and DC categories, a separate admission list will be released.

For general category seats, while the last date for the submission of registration forms is December 20, the first admission list will be published on January 17, 2025.

According to a DoE circular, all private unaided recognised schools will upload their admission criteria and point systems on their websites by November 25. Parents must submit their application forms by December 20. The department will then have time till January 3 to upload details of children who have applied for admission under open seats. Following this, by January 10, marks of the children will be uploaded.

The first list of selected students will be available by January 17, and the window for allotment-related queries will be open from January 18 to January 27.

If needed, the department will release a second list of selected children on February 3 and the resolution window for the same will be open from February 5 to February 11. The admission process is scheduled to officially conclude on March 14, 2025.

As per the circular, the minimum age limit for admission is three years for nursery, four years for KG and five years for Class 1, as of March 31, 2025. The upper age limit for admission is less than four years for nursery, less than five years for KG and less than six years for Class 1, the circular read. “Age relaxation for admission of up to 30 days may be granted at the level of the head of school in the minimum and upper age limits for these classes,” it added.

In the event of a tie among applicants, a draw of lots will be conducted, either using a computerised system or by drawing slips in the presence of parents. The draw will be videographed and the footage will be retained by the school, the circular stated.