The Department of Education has this week opened the application window for Nursery and Reception enrolments for the 2024/2025 academic year. As was the case last year, the application process will be conducted in an electronic manner. Applications will be received and processed digitally, with interested parents and carers being directed to the Department of Education’s website at www.education.gov.gi.

Parents / carers ordinarily resident in Gibraltar are able to register children who they wish to start Nursery and / or who are due to start Reception in September 2024.

Nursery enrolments are open to children born between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2021.

Reception enrolments are open to children born between 1st September 2019 and 31st August 2020 who are not currently attending a Government Nursery.

Children attending a Government Nursery do not need to re-enrol.

Parents / carers are requested to register their children as soon as possible by completing the online enrolment form available at www.education.gov.gi. Together with the completion of all required information on the electronic form, parents / carers will need to upload a number of documents. These include a long version of the child’s birth certificate, evidence of residence in Gibraltar (eg ID Card/Permit of Residence is required) and a recent local water and electricity bill. Once the electronic form and relevant uploads have been completed, the enrolment form will be processed by the enrolment team at the Department of Education.

Once processed, parents / carers will receive communication from the Department of Education confirming their child’s catchment school allocation. Individuals wishing to request an alternative school to their catchment school allocation will be able to request a transfer at this stage.

The closing date for enrolments is Wednesday 27th March 2024. Enrolments made after the closing date may be considered, but please note that the Department of Education will not necessarily be able to provide a placement within the catchment area.

The Department of Education will very carefully scrutinise all applications for eligibility, particularly from the point of view of residency. This will be extended to pupils already at school, who, if found not to be entitled to Education in Gibraltar will be advised to make alternative arrangements as from the end of this academic year.

Parents / carers are advised that the Department of Education is actively reviewing catchment areas with each new enrolment cycle, with a view to ensuring that these are as geographically appropriate as possible. This exercise helps to ensure that pupil distributions across schools provide the best possible pupil:staff ratios. A powerful and versatile Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to inform this process. This allows the Department of Education to manage catchment areas in a more dynamic manner and will, over time, facilitate more effective responses to the changing needs of our community’s demographic.

Any queries regarding the enrolment process should be emailed to enrolments.edu@gibraltar.gov.gi.

ENDS