Delhi's Directorate of Education has been releasing non-plan admission results for Classes 6 to 9 in phases on the Edudel portal since the start of May. If you are a Delhi parent navigating a mid-school admission for the 2026-27 session — a relocation, a school change, or a child who did not get a seat at the right grade earlier — this is the cycle that matters. Forms have been live since April 1; the process runs in three cycles through August 31. Here is what to do this week.

What "non-plan" admission actually means

The Directorate of Education runs two parallel admission tracks for its government schools. The "plan" track is the seat allocation that happens by default — children of the right age, residing in the catchment area, and progressing year-on-year inside a feeder relationship. The "non-plan" track is for everything else: lateral entry from a private school, transfers across zones, children who missed the planned cycle, and children whose family has moved into a new neighbourhood mid-year.

For Classes 6, 7, 8, and 9, non-plan admission is the only government-school route available to most families looking for a fresh seat. The portal is edudel.nic.in; everything is online; offline applications are not accepted.

The three-cycle structure

The 2026-27 cycle has three windows. Knowing which one you are in is the first step.

  • Cycle 1: Registration was open from April 1 to April 7, 2026. Results are being released in phases through May. Most families who applied early will know their allotment by the second or third week of May.
  • Cycle 2: May to June. The exact registration window is published on the portal a few days before each cycle opens. This is the cycle most parents underestimate; it is also where most of the seat availability sits because Cycle 1 surpluses get released into Cycle 2 zones.
  • Cycle 3: July to August, with last-date registration on or around July 25. The whole admissions process closes on August 31, 2026.

If you missed Cycle 1, do not wait. The May to June window will be open shortly, and missing two cycles materially reduces your shot at a preferred school. The schools with the better profiles fill fastest in Cycle 1; the seats that open up in Cycle 2 are still real options if you move quickly.

If your name is in the Cycle 1 result

Results are released in phases, not as a single list. Your school allotment shows on the Edudel student portal and is also visible at the school itself. Once you have an allotment, the path is straightforward:

  1. Carry the allotment slip, the student's previous-class marksheet, the school leaving certificate from the previous school, a passport-size photograph, and one residence-proof document — voter ID, ration card, electricity bill, or rental agreement on stamp paper. Aadhar is increasingly accepted but is not a sole substitute for a residence proof in Delhi government schools.
  2. Visit the allotted school within the report-by date listed on your slip. Missing this date can void the allotment.
  3. Verify the section, medium of instruction, and stream (for Class 9) on the day of admission, not later.

If your name is not in the first list

The most common parent error in week one is assuming a missed allotment in the first phase means the application has failed. It has not. Subsequent phases of the same cycle release more lists based on seat availability. Check the portal weekly. If the cycle closes without an allotment, the application carries forward into Cycle 2 in most cases — confirm at your zonal office.

The five reasons applications get rejected

Across the last three admission cycles, these are the patterns we see in parent feedback:

  • Wrong age band. Delhi government school age criteria for Classes 6 to 9 are tighter than parents assume. A child even a few months outside the band needs a separate over-age or under-age permission, which has its own form.
  • Mismatched residence proof. The address on the residence proof must match the address used in the application. A bill in the parent's father-in-law's name on a different address is the single most common rejection reason.
  • Missing previous school documents. Children moving from CBSE-affiliated private schools sometimes find their TC has not been issued in time. Schools are obliged to issue the TC; if delayed, escalate to the school's affiliating authority and keep a written request on record.
  • Class-grade mismatch. Children repeating a year or being moved up by their previous school must reflect that in the application. Stating the wrong class is treated as a misdeclaration.
  • Sibling priority misuse. Sibling priority is a real ground for some preference, but only if the sibling is currently enrolled in the same school in a recognised grade.

The CM SHRI question

For Class 6 and Class 9 entry specifically, the Delhi government also runs a separate CM SHRI School admission test. CM SHRI results for Class 6 and 9 were declared on April 30, 2026; the Class 11 test was held on May 7 with results due May 25. CM SHRI and non-plan admission are different routes; if your child has been allotted a CM SHRI seat, that supersedes the non-plan flow. If not, non-plan continues in parallel.

The practical implication is that families pursuing CM SHRI for a strong child should still keep a non-plan application live as a fallback. The two systems do not talk to each other; missing a non-plan window because you were waiting on a CM SHRI result is an avoidable mistake.

What to do this week

Three things, in order:

  1. Check the Edudel portal for your Cycle 1 allotment status. If allotted, complete documentation now rather than at the report-by date.
  2. Prepare your document folder for Cycle 2. Residence proof, birth certificate, previous school records, and two passport photographs should be in one place. Re-applying takes minutes if your folder is ready; hours if it is not.
  3. If you are choosing between two schools, visit both this week. Government school allotments are zone-bound and unlike private school admissions, you cannot informally switch later.

Bottom line

Delhi non-plan admissions for Classes 6 to 9 are designed to absorb mid-school transitions through the year, but they reward parents who treat the cycle calendar seriously. If you are between cycles, prepare your documents now — residence proof, previous school records, photographs — so that when the next registration window opens you can complete the application in a single sitting. The system works; it just does not work for parents who treat it like a private school admission with a long deadline.