Parents begin registering for grade 1 and grade 6 spots in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City will hold a single enrollment period for all grade 1 and grade 6 students, with parents having 10 days to register, starting May 27.

Both groups of students will be considered during a single enrollment period, from May 27 to July 20, departing from the previous two-phase system. Parents must register their children online via the city's enrollment portal, following the admission plans set by local communes and wards.

Group one includes children who are of the appropriate age for grade 1 or grade 6, reside in the local area, and have completed primary education under specialized programs (such as high-quality, advanced, regional and international integration, integrated English, or enhanced French programs) in previous academic years.

Group two comprises all other cases, with priority given in the following order: students who attended preschool or primary school in the local area or adjacent regions; those with siblings currently enrolled in local schools or whose parents work for agencies or industrial parks within the area; residents of neighboring areas; or those who relocated from other localities after the registration deadline.

Enrollment for specialized programs and schools will be reviewed first, with results announced by June 15. Once these students confirm their admission, communes and wards will allocate spots for general schools and publish the results online by 5 PM on July 10.

Timeline	Content
By 5 PM on May 25	Communes and wards update initial enrollment plans on the city's enrollment portal.
May 27 - 5 PM on June 7	Guidance for parents: - Register for enrollment type and area, serving as the basis for allocating students to general schools. - Enroll in schools with specialized programs, including: high-quality, advanced, regional and international integration; integrated English; enhanced French; and schools with specialized models such as Nam Sai Gon Primary-Secondary-High School and Luong The Vinh Secondary-High School. Note: Parents may register for both options simultaneously.
June 8 - 5 PM on June 15	Announcement of specialized school enrollment results.
June 16-23	Specialized schools receive applications and guide parents to confirm online admission.
June 24 - July 10	Allocation of students to general schools.
By 5 PM on July 10	Synchronization of grade 1 and grade 6 enrollment results for all types and programs on the city's initial enrollment portal.
July 11-20	Parents confirm online admission and submit documents to admitted schools.

After the official enrollment period concludes, communes and wards will develop admission plans for schools with remaining capacity, based on the number of confirmed admissions.

This year, Ho Chi Minh City anticipates over 197,500 children enrolling in grade 1 and 185,700 students in grade 6. These figures represent a decrease of approximately 6,100 and 2,200 students, respectively, compared to last year.

Student placement will be flexible, based on three factors: the local and adjacent school network, the number of age-appropriate children, and actual distance. The city utilizes a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the distance from students' homes to schools, ensuring children are placed as close to home as possible.

This approach, implemented in former Ho Chi Minh City districts since 2024, has been credited with improving commuting and transportation convenience for students and parents, while also curbing the practice of manipulating household registrations to secure desired school placements or enrolling outside designated zones.