First time to a primary school?

Read the following instructions carefully, If you need help with the application, you can contact the City Council, Stadsdeelraad, for assistance or the school of your choosing.

When a child is four years old, it must be enrolled at a primary school. As most of primary schools in Amsterdam we have adopted the city-wide equal-admission policy. This means that the same rules apply to registration and admission in all participating schools.

How to register for primary school

Around the third birthday of your child, the municipality of Amsterdam will send registration form for a primary school along with an explanation of the current admission policy from You can only register your child by submitting this primary school registration form to the school of your first preference.

Priority Schools

Every child has priority admission at the eight nearest (participating) primary schools in the area. This priority is determined by the walking distance between your child’s home address and the school.

When you enter the postcode and house number of the child’s official home address along with its date of birth on www.amsterdam.nl/schoolwijzer.nl/, you can check if your child has priority at our school.

What you need to do:

1. If our school is your first preference, we ask you to hand in the original registration form (not a copy or scan) with us.
2. Your child’s name, date of birth and home address are pre-printed on the registration form. Check this data and make corrections  if necessary.*
3. Check if the registration form is completely filled in and signed (don’t forget the telephone number and e-mail address).
4. Fill in at least five primary schools in order of preference. These can be priority schools as well as no-priority schools.  Note: Even if an older sibling is attending the school, it is still necessary to submit the registration form. In this case, however, it’s not necessary to specify multiple preferences.
5. The registration form must also be submitted for a child going to the school’s pre-school.

As soon as we have processed your registration form, we will send you a proof of registration (by post or e-mail)

Check this proof of registration carefully and make sure to contact us if any of the information is incorrect.

*In some cases is necessary to provide written evidence when registering.

This applies in the following situations:

• Your child has a VVE- indication;
• Your child is already enrolled at an IKC, (Intergraal Kind Center, a school that provides day care as well);
• The pre-printed information on the registration form is incorrect; you submit a registration form without pre-printed personal information of your child.

Lost registration form?

If you do not have a completed registration form, you can download it here: Registration form primary school 2019-20
If this is the case, always make sure to bring an address certificate so we can check the address and personal information of your child.

It is important to keep the following Submission deadlines in mind:

• Children born between September 1 2019 and december 31, 2019 before 9 maart 2023
• Children born between  January 1 2020 en  april 30 2020, before 1 juni 2023
• Children born between  may 1 2020 en august 31 2020, before 2 november 2023

Placement in primary school

Placement of all registered children is automatically carried out immediately after the submission deadline. The school boards are directly responsible for the placement procedure. Every child has the same chance of a place under the same circumstances. The goal is to give your child a place at a school as high as possible in your preference list.

If a school receives more applications than available places, selection by school-lottery is necessary. Your child will participate in the order of schools you have specified. First, the children with priority are placed. Then, the other enrolment applications will be discussed. If your child is not placed at our school, it will be eligible for the following preferred schools that you have specified.

During placement, the priority rules are applied in the following order.

1. If there is an older sibling at the school at the moment the registered child turns 4, the child has a placement guarantee.
2. The child has a VVE ja-indication, goes to the school’s pre-school for at least 8 months for 4 part-days per week, and has priority at the school.
3. The child has spent at least 8 months for 4 part-days per week at the Integrated Childcare Center (IKC) that the school is a part of, and has priority at the school.
4. The child’s parent has an indefinite-term employment contract at the school, and the child has priority at the school.

Enrolment

If you submitted your registration form before the deadline, you will receive notice from a school where your child can be placed after approximately two weeks. If you want to use this (reserved) place, you need to notify the school before the date mentioned in this letter.

Only them your child’s enrolment will be final, and can you be assured of the place at the school from which you have received the letter.

More information

For questions about the admission policy, you can also contact the BBO (joint school boards) helpdesk. (tel. 020-2518006, toelatingsbeleid@bboamsterdam.nl) or visit the BBO website for more information, including the current school capacity and previous placement results.

 Official leaflet Gemeente Amsterdam