New Delhi: The Delhi government’s School Education Department has announced that from the academic year 2026-27 onwards, children must be over six years of age to be admitted into Class 1 in all government, aided, and unaided private schools across the city.
This new regulation aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and will be implemented in phases to standardize school admission norms in Delhi.
The department has issued detailed age criteria covering all early education levels, including Nursery and Kindergarten. According to the revised guidelines, admission to Nursery (Balvatika 1/Preschool 1) requires a minimum age of three and a maximum of four years as of March 31. For Lower Kindergarten (LKG/Balvatika 2/Preschool 2), children must be between four and five years old, while Upper Kindergarten (UKG/Balvatika 3/Preschool 3) admissions are for children aged five to six years.
Following these stages, a child must be at least six years old and not older than seven years as of March 31 to enroll in Class 1.
The standardized age criteria will apply uniformly to all schools, aiming to streamline the admission process and ensure compliance with NEP 2020 mandates.
