The schedule of application, selection and enrolment will begin in February. Different rules will apply to the country's most popular secondary schools and others.

Obec secretary-general Khunying Kasama Varawarn yesterday said she had signed the announcement about the guidelines on Thursday.

Under the guidelines, provincial authorities will make sure that all children have a seat in a Grade-1 class at an appropriate age.

No entrance exam will be held for these children.

"If the number of applicants exceeds available seats, draws will be held. The schools must also contact nearby institutes to help find a place for the leftover children," Kasama said.

She said most secondary schools would use the same guidelines, except that all Grade-6 graduates will be allocated places at secondary schools at the very outset.

However, if they want to apply to their favoured secondary schools, they can do so without losing their right to the allocated seat. If their preferred schools are unable to accommodate them, these students can switch back to the allocated places from schools that previously offered them.

Kasama said the country's most popular 430 secondary schools would follow different rules.

"They can hold entrance exams," she said, adding that the exams would cover mathematics, science, Thai language, and social science.

For popular schools in Bangkok, the ratio for new students through entrance exams will be fixed at 50 per cent of the schools' available seats in Grade 7.

For popular schools outside Bangkok, 40 per cent of their available seats will go to successful applicants from entrance exams sat by children from across the country.

Another 10 per cent will be reserved for successful applicants from entrance exams sat by children from the schools' province only.

The rest of the places will go to applicants in the schools' neighbourhoods.