e-Bulletin for Parents - 15 January 2024

The Central Allocation Stage of the Primary One Admission (POA) will commence soon

The Central Allocation Stage of the Primary One Admission 2024 Cycle will commence soon. Parents whose children (including children who intend to commute daily to schools in Hong Kong) have not secured a discretionary place should make their choice of schools within the period from January 22 to January 28.

In line with the Smart Government strategy, the Education Bureau (EDB) has fully implemented digitalisation of the POA. Parents who have registered as POA e-Platform (ePOA) users and have bound their account to “iAM Smart+” may submit the Choice of Schools Form for Central Allocation from January 22 to January 28 through the ePOA. The EDB encourages parents to register with “iAM Smart+” (www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/reg.html) as early as possible for more convenient and faster P1 school place allocation services. Please refer to the related videos and Parent's Guide on the EDB homepage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/spa-systems/primary-1-admission/poa_eplatform/index.html) for details of the procedures for activating and logging in an ePOA account and for making school choices for the Central Allocation of POA via the e-Platform.

The EDB will send letters to parents on January 17 inviting them to make their choice of schools. To cater for the needs of different parents, parents can still submit the Choice of Schools Form in paper form by visiting the designated Central Allocation Centre at the suggested time slot (i.e. 9.30am to 12.30pm or 1.30pm to 4.30pm on January 27 (Saturday) or 9.30am to 12.30pm on January 28 (Sunday)) stated in the letter.

Parents who are ePOA users may choose to submit the Central Allocation Application via the ePOA or in paper form but should not submit duplicate applications. Parents who have not yet received the letter by January 22 should call the School Places Allocation Section of the EDB (Hotline: 2832 7700) as soon as possible.

Only one parent of an applicant child is required to complete the school choice-making procedures. Parents are advised not to take their children to the Central Allocation Centre where possible. Parents who cannot make school choices within the suggested time slot can go to the designated Central Allocation Centre from 1.30pm to 4.30pm on January 28. The Choice of Schools Form will be sent together with the letter to parents who submitted the Application Form in paper form at the Discretionary Places stage for filling in advance.

In the event of adverse weather or other special conditions on any day during the period of making school choices, please pay heed to radio or television announcements on the relevant special arrangements.

For individual parents who are unable to use the ePOA or go to the Central Allocation Centre to make school choices, they can authorise in writing a representative to bring the completed Choice of Schools Form and their signed Letter of Authorisation to proceed with the related procedures.

To apply for POA 2024 after January 28, parents need to complete necessary procedures with the School Places Allocation Section, which will separately arrange P1 places for the applicant children in June.

Parents who have recently moved their residence or have such plans in the near future are required to inform the School Places Allocation Section as soon as possible so that they can make school choices in the POA School Net where their new home is located. Parents should fill in the actual residential address of their child. If they provide a false address for securing a P1 place, the POA application of their child will be rendered void and the P1 place allocated will be withdrawn.

The EDB has put in place a monitoring mechanism to verify the residential addresses of applicant children as given by the parents. Random checks have also been stepped up. The public may call the School Places Allocation Section to report suspected cases of using a false address for POA application. The EDB will take action against false address cases.

For information about the procedures for Central Allocation, please call the EDB's 24-hour automatic telephone enquiry service at 2891 0088.

For parents who have already activated their ePOA account via “iAM Smart” or “iAM Smart+”, they will receive their Central Allocation results through the ePOA from 10am on June 5. Parents who wish to receive the allocation results via SMS on June 5 may choose such an option in the Choice of Schools Form. In addition, the allocation results will be sent to parents by post from June 5 to 6.