Enrolment

Application and enrolment forms

Please note: The enrolment form has changed since the beginning of the 2024 school year. All government schools must use the updated enrolment form available on this page.

The department supports Victorian government schools to maintain a fair and transparent enrolment process by providing a standardised application form and enrolment form that are completed in 2 stages:

• Stage 1: Application form – captures enrolment expressions of interest from parents/carers.
• Stage 2: Enrolment form – captures detailed student information once there is a confirmed placement offer from the school.

Where schools have an online application or enrolment form, the content must align with the department’s forms.

Application form

The application form supports parents/carers of eligible students to apply for a place at a government school. It is intended to be used before an enrolment form is completed and may be used for any year level apart from Year 6 to 7 placement, which has its own form and process.

It is strongly recommended that schools use the department’s application form, particularly where schools do not have sufficient accommodation to accept all students or have an enrolment management implementation plan. Use of the form allows schools to assess applications in line with the Placement Policy and reduces instances of parents/carers enrolling their children in multiple schools.

Schools may request parents/carers provide supporting documentation to confirm a student’s address using the residential address check (PDF). When assessing an application, schools may make enquiries to verify the information provided.

Schools must not make amendments to the application form, except for cases involving specialist schools or schools with specific entry criteria approved by the Minister for Education (or delegate). These schools may have additional requirements that need to be incorporated into the application form.

If a school has sufficient accommodation to accept all students, they may provide parents/carers with the enrolment form (instead of the application form) to complete their admission if the:

• enrolling student lives in the school zone or
• enrolling student is a sibling of an existing student who will be continuing at the school.

The application form is available below and on the CASES21 Portal:

• Application to enrol in a Victorian government school (PDF) (staff login required)
• Application to enrol in a Victorian government school (DOCX) (staff login required)

Additionally, the application form is included in the Foundation enrolment information pack for parents/carers.

Templates for communicating outcomes via email are available to support schools to respond to applications:

• Application outcome communications to parents/carers (DOCX) (staff login required)

Enrolment form

Enrolment forms must be completed for all students enrolling for the first time in the Victorian government school system. Most commonly, this would occur at Foundation (Prep) enrolment.

An enrolment form is not required for students transferring between Victorian government schools. Refer to: Student transfers between schools.

Parents/carers complete the enrolment form when all of the following apply:

• they are enrolling their child for the first time in the Victorian government school system
• the selected school has confirmed a place is available
• they intend to accept the enrolment offer and send their child to the selected school.

The enrolment form is available below and on the CASES21 Portal:

• Form to enrol in a Victorian government school (DOCX) (staff login required)
• Form to enrol in a Victorian government school (PDF) (staff login required)

Information collected in the enrolment form aligns with school data collection requirements, including mandatory CASES21 data.

No amendments should be made to the enrolment form.

Declaration

A signature from the following applicable people will be required to complete the enrolment form:

• the parents as set out on the child’s birth certificate or as described in a court order or
• an informal carer with a statutory declaration, or other authorised carer with relevant documentation (refer to Decision Making Responsibilities for Students for information about carers and a copy of the applicable statutory declaration) or
• the student, if they are living independently.

The signature of one parent on an enrolment form should be accepted where:

• there is only one parent or carer with legal responsibility for the child
• parents are completing separate enrolment forms
• one parent declares they have completed and signed the form on behalf of both parents, and contact details for the other parent have been provided in the form
• one parent has completed and signed the form and the contact details for the other parent are unknown to the enrolling parent and the school.

In all other circumstances, the signature of only one parent on an enrolment form will generally be considered incomplete documentation and principals must follow the steps set out in the Incomplete or missing student information or documentation section in the next chapter.

When parents are not in agreement about the enrolment application, principals and staff should:

• avoid becoming involved
• avoid favouring one parent
• act in accordance at all times in the best interests of the student and school community
• act sensitively
• realise that a resolution, satisfactory to both parents, may not be possible.

Schools should contact Legal Division at legal.services@education.vic.gov.au for further advice as required, including where there are safety concerns about contacting a parent to seek consent to enrol.

Privacy collection notice

Schools must provide new families with the department’s privacy collection notice and keep all information securely. Enrolment forms and supporting documentation must be managed in accordance with the department’s privacy policies and Victorian privacy laws. Refer to Privacy and Information Sharing for further information.

Records management

Under the Records Management – School Records Policy, schools must retain all application and enrolment forms for 7 years, or for the duration of the student’s enrolment – whichever is longer. Both forms are used to inform enrolment decisions, which may be subject to appeal.

Digital enrolment forms

The enrolment form is available as a fillable PDF. Schools may continue to provide a hard copy of the form to parents/carers as needed. Where schools have established an online enrolment process based on the previous enrolment form, this will need to be updated to align with the content of the revised form.

Due to the personal and sensitive health information collected, schools are required to store the enrolment form in a secure digital format using one of the following options:

• existing student administration system (for example, Compass, Sentral)
• encrypted PDF via email
• new software platform with enrolment functionality (for example, Digistorm).

A privacy impact assessment is required for new systems or when the purpose of existing systems is expanded to include the enrolment process. For further information refer to the PAL guidance on Privacy impact assessments.

Platforms such as Google or O365 should not be used, as they are provided for collaboration and not secure storage of student records. This type of platform can pose a risk of inappropriate access and disclosure of student personal and sensitive information.

Schools should contact the Privacy team for advice and support to ensure they meet privacy law requirements by email: privacy@education.vic.gov.au or phone: 03 8688 7967.