Admission form format, two pages, ready to print.

What the form asks for, and why

An admission form is the start of a student's record. What you take down now goes into the admission register, and years later the transfer certificate is copied from that register. So the form asks for what the TC will need.

CBSE's transfer certificate format, Annexure I of its Examination Bye-Laws, asks for the student's name, the mother's name, the father's or guardian's name, the date of birth in figures and in words as recorded in the Admission and Withdrawal Register, nationality, and whether the student belongs to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or OBC. This form has a line for each. Our transfer certificate format shows the full list.

State formats can ask for more. Maharashtra's school leaving certificate, set by a Government Resolution of 19 September 2016, also asks for mother tongue, religion, caste, sub-caste and place of birth. If your state's certificate needs a detail that isn't here, add a line to the Word file before you print.

The blood group, the allergy line and the emergency contact aren't needed for the TC, but they're what the office reaches for when a child is unwell. And the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 covers personal data collected on paper and digitised later, and limits consent to the data needed for its purpose, so ask only for what you'll use; our DPDP Act guide for schools covers the rest.

What the RTE Act says about admission

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 covers elementary education, which it defines as Classes 1 to 8, for children aged six to fourteen. For those admissions:

• No capitation fee (section 13). The fine can go up to ten times the fee charged.
• No screening of the child or the parents (section 13). The Act defines screening as any way of choosing one child over another other than a random method, so the form shouldn't feed a test or an interview that decides who gets a seat. The fine can go up to ₹25,000 for a first contravention and ₹50,000 for each one after.
• No refusal for lack of age proof (section 14). Age is shown by a birth certificate or another prescribed document, and no child can be denied admission for want of one.
• At least 25% of Class 1 seats in unaided schools and specified-category schools, such as Kendriya Vidyalayas, go to children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups in the neighbourhood (section 12(1)(c)). Where the school has pre-school classes, the same rule applies to admission to them. The office strip has a line to note whether the student holds one of these seats.

The RTE Act covers children from six to fourteen but doesn't fix the entry age for nursery or Class 1. Check the current order that applies to your school, such as your state education department's, before the admission season. The form doesn't print an age rule for that reason.

Students coming from another school

A transfer certificate from the last school records the class the student last studied in and whether they qualified for promotion. What happens if it hasn't arrived depends on the school and the board.

• RTE section 5 gives a child moving schools to finish elementary education the right to a TC straight away, and says a delay in producing it can't be a reason to delay or deny admission. That right is to move to a school other than an unaided or specified-category school.
• CBSE's Bye-Law 8(iii) says a student who has attended another school must produce an authenticated TC in the board's format before the name can be entered in the Admission Register. Bye-Law 8(iv) adds that no student can be admitted to a class higher than the TC allows.

So the form lists the TC among the documents without saying it can wait, and the office strip records the date it came in. Check your own board's and state's rules if a family asks to send it later.

Birth certificate, Aadhaar and APAAR

Birth certificate. The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 came into force on 1 October 2023. For anyone born on or after that date, section 17(3) of the amended Act says the birth certificate is to be used to prove the date and place of birth for admission to an educational institution. The oldest of those children turn three during the 2026-27 session, so it reaches the youngest classes first.

Aadhaar. In the Puttaswamy judgment of 2018, the Supreme Court said that for school admissions, Aadhaar “would not be compulsory as it is neither a service nor subsidy”. That's why the form marks it optional. A form without it is a complete form.

APAAR ID. APAAR is an Aadhaar-linked academic ID, and it needs a parent's consent. On 20 July 2026 the Supreme Court called an option for parents to withhold or refuse consent an essential safeguard, and directed that an Orissa High Court direction on adding that option to the model consent form be given effect across India. The form asks for an APAAR ID only if the student already has one, and lists the consent form as a separate document if your school uses one. Our UDISE+ and APAAR guide explains how the two fit together.

How to use the form

1. Add your school's details. Type the school's name, address, affiliation number and UDISE code into the heading of the Word file, or write them on the printed PDF.
2. Number each form. Write a form number and the date on each form as you hand it out, so you can match it to the application later.
3. Check it against the documents. Match the name and date of birth to the birth certificate or TC, letter for letter, before you accept the form.
4. Fill in the office strip. Once the admission is confirmed, add the admission number, class and section, fee receipt number and the date the TC came in, and sign it.
5. Copy it into the admission register. Enter the details in the admission register exactly as they are on the form. The TC will be filled in from the register later.

Sources

We read each of these on 21 October 2026. Rules change, so check the latest circular before you rely on a detail.

1. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (No. 35 of 2009), sections 2, 5, 12, 13 and 14, Ministry of Law and Justice, Gazette of India (copy hosted by NCPCR), 27 August 2009.
2. The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 20 of 2023), section 17(3), Ministry of Law and Justice, Gazette of India, 11 August 2023.
3. Notification S.O. 4058(E): commencement of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 from 1 October 2023, Ministry of Home Affairs (Office of the Registrar General, India), Gazette of India, 13 September 2023.
4. Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, W.P.(C) No. 494 of 2012, judgment (paragraph 332(c)), Supreme Court of India, 26 September 2018.
5. Abhishek Baxi & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P.(C) No. 832/2026, order (paragraph 7), Supreme Court of India, 20 July 2026.
6. Examination Bye-Laws 1995 (updated up to January 2013): Bye-Law 8, Admission Procedure, and Annexure I, Format of Transfer Certificate, Central Board of Secondary Education, January 2013.
7. Government Resolution No. संकीर्ण-२३१६/(२२९/१६)/एस.डी.४ on the school leaving certificate format (Marathi), School Education and Sports Department, Government of Maharashtra, 19 September 2016.
8. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023), sections 3 and 6, Ministry of Law and Justice, Gazette of India (copy hosted by MeitY), 11 August 2023.