Class I admission by lottery, classes II–IX through tests

Students seeking admission to Class I in private secondary schools for the 2027 academic year will be selected through a lottery, while applicants for vacant seats in Classes II to IX will have to sit for written admission tests.

Under the new admission policy issued by the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Education Ministry on Wednesday, private schools in Dhaka metropolitan area must reserve 80 per cent of their seats for students living within their designated catchment areas. The remaining 20 per cent will be open to applicants from other areas.

According to the policy, schools must prepare waiting lists alongside the selected candidates for Class I. Vacant seats will be filled from the waiting lists if selected students fail to complete admission within the stipulated time.

For Classes II and III, the written admission test will carry 50 marks, with 15 marks each for Bangla and English and 20 for mathematics. The examination will last one hour.

For Classes IV to IX, the test will carry 100 marks, including 30 marks each for Bangla and English and 40 for mathematics. The examination duration will be two hours.

Students seeking admission to Class IX must have passed the Class VIII or equivalent examination.

For Class I admission, children must be at least six but under seven years old on January 1 of the academic year. Accordingly, applicants for 2027 must have been born between January 1 and December 31, 2020. Children with special needs may receive an age relaxation of up to five years.

The policy also limits the number of students in each section of a class to 55. The academic year will run from January 1 to December 31.

For Dhaka metropolitan schools, the catchment area will be determined by the applicant’s place of residence on the date the admission notice is published. Schools must collect information about prospective students in their respective catchment areas before beginning the admission process.

The policy also provides several admission quotas: 5 per cent for children of freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters, 2 per cent for students with special needs and 1 per cent for children residing in Lillah boarding facilities and orphanages.

Additional quotas include 2 per cent for children of employees of the Education Ministry and its subordinate offices, 3 per cent for siblings of current students and 2 per cent for twins. Unfilled quota seats will be made available to general applicants.

A further 5 per cent of seats in each section will be reserved beyond the regular capacity for children of government employees transferred to new workplaces, subject to specified conditions.

The policy has set the maximum online application fee at Tk110 for Class I and Tk250 for Classes II to IX.

Schools must also comply with government-prescribed admission fees and other charges. Institutions found collecting fees beyond the approved limits may face legal action, including cancellation of their Monthly Pay Order (MPO) status.