Students throughout Philadelphia have the opportunity to apply to attend School District of Philadelphia (SDP) schools of their choice through an annual School Selection Process. Students across all grades may apply to all available SDP K-12 schools, but 8th graders applying for 9th grade constitute the largest group of participants.

This report summarizes qualifications, applications, admission offers, and student responses for the 2023-24 School Selection Process, with a focus on 8th graders applying to criteria-based schools. Similar to previous reports, changes to the selection process and criteria for applicants and schools are described.

Key findings include:

• Overall Participation (Internal and External Students): Across all grades, a total of 16,852 different students (District students and external students) submitted at least one application to a District school or program during the 2023-24 School Selection Process. Consistent with historical patterns, the majority (10,557) of all applicants participating in the School Selection Process were 8th graders.
• Qualifications (District 8th Graders Only): Based on pre-application student qualification levels, approximately one-half (48.2%) of all District 8th graders met or exceeded the Minimum qualification level for criteria-based (CB) high schools in 2023-24. This represents a large increase from 2022-23 (which was 27.1%), and is attributable to modifications made to the Minimum eligibility requirements at some CB schools.
• Applications (District 8th Graders Only): Overall, 62.4% of District 8th graders applied to at least one criteria-based school in 2023-24. This represents a 1.4 percentage point decrease from the 2022-23 CB application rate of 63.8%.
• Applications (District 8th Graders Only): Of all CB applications submitted by District 8th graders (up to 5 applications per student), 59.1% were submitted to a school where that student met the school’s requirements (including attendance, grades, and standardized test scores). This is an increase of 14 percentage points from the 2022-23 rate of 45.1%.
• Admission Offers (District 8th Graders Only): Over 97% of District 8th graders who submitted at least one eligible CB application received at least one CB admission offer. The rate was almost identical to the rate observed in 2022-23.
• Student Responses (District 8th Graders Only): About 85% of students who received at least one CB offer accepted one.