The Ministry of Primary & Secondary Education has opened the Electronic Ministry Application Platform (eMAP) to allow parents/guardians to apply for Form One boarding places for their children for 2024.
A significant change on the Form 1 online application 2024/2025 platform is that the maximum number of schools that can be applied to at once has been increased to three to five.
The move may have been necessitated by a need to reduce the load on the system. Last year there were some challenges and anomalies in the system due to high traffic levels.
You will be notified if your application is accepted or rejected via SMS only after the Grade 7 results are released since they will be used in the selection process.
It would also be wise to apply as soon as possible since boarding school places are quite limited. Last year the number of places available far outstripped demand for them and the same is bound to be true for this year.
If you want to look for a place for a child who did their primary school outside Zimbabwe e.g. in South Africa or Botswana you can check the FAQ section below for how you can go about it.
How to apply for a Form One 2024 Boarding School Place in Zimbabwe using the eMAP system
- Create an eMap form one application 2024 account
The first step is to create an account that you will use to manage your application. You will also use this account to check on the status of your application. Thus you should make sure you use a password that you will remember.
Visit www.emap.co.zw and click on the link close to the bottom of the page that says ‘If you do not have an account please Sign Up Here‘. Read and understand the instructions and click on ‘I understand‘.
- Enter the Pupil's Details
On the account creation page enter the required details including centre number, candidate number and date of birth using the details that appear on the pupil’s result slip. After you are done confirm that the former school has cleared the pupil and proceed.
- Fill In Your Contact Details
On the next form, you must fill in the fields for your mobile number, email (it’s listed as an optional field), password of your choice, and confirm password. (Make sure you keep the password safe). Click ‘Register'.
- Sign In To The eMap Application Account
Your account will now be set up and you can then sign in using the link provided to begin the application process.
If the link does not work you can click here to go to the sign-in page. On the page enter the centre number, candidate number and password in the respective fields the click the sign-in button.
- Choose The Schools You Want
Click where it says ”Apply for Form 1 place” then select the province and district of your choice. You will see a list of available boarding schools. Choose the school you want and click apply. Repeat the process for the remaining four schools of your choice.
Be Careful Here! Once you apply to a school you can't change it. In other words, make sure you apply for the schools you want as there is no way of changing a school once you have applied.
If needed you can look get the contact details of schools here. - Check The Status Of Your Application
You can follow up on your Form 1 online application 2024 by clicking on the Check Status of Application button anytime you log in. That's it you are done. That is how to apply for a form 1 place online in Zimbabwe.
Once You Have Finished Your Form One Online eMap Application Please Take Of The Following
Your application can show any one of the following statuses:
Pending – application still under consideration
Accepted – you have been offered a place
Processed – once a particular school has accepted your child, all the other outstanding schools’ statuses will automatically be changed to ‘Processed‘.
Rejected – your application was unsuccessful
- Once you decline an offer there is no guarantee that you will get the same offer back
- The offering of a place is done randomly from your shortlisted schools.

Frequently Asked Questions On How To Apply For A Form One Place On eMap
You can't change a school once you have applied on the eMap platform. Your best chance is to be rejected at all five schools and then reapply. So take your time and make sure you apply to the schools you want.
No, you can't and there is no guarantee that if you reapply to the same school you will get accepted again. So be careful with rejecting offers.
Yes, you can.
Currently, you can apply to a maximum of five schools at once
The application platform will be closed on 31 December 2023
You can log in to the account and click ‘Check Status of Application‘. Zimsec says it will send notification SMS's as well but it's best to check for yourself time and again.
Reapply again to five schools.
There is no prescribed waiting time. The time taken to process the application depends on the school of your choice.
This is a special case. You will have to take your papers and approach the nearest provincial education office to present your case. You will be given further instructions there.
You can visit www.openclass.co.zw and you will see profiles of high schools there. There you will also learn about the uniforms and fees of the various listed schools in Zimbabwe.
It means that one particular school has accepted your child and the status of all other schools changes to ‘Processed‘.

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