Badung Predicts Surge in Domicile-Based Junior High School Admissions

The new student admission system (SPMB) for junior high schools (SMP) is underway, and the Badung Regency Education, Youth, and Sports Office (Disdikpora) predicts a surge in applicants for the domicile or zonation pathway this year. “Usually, all remaining applicants who haven’t secured a place will enter this domicile pathway. Moreover, the total capacity we have provided reaches 8,386 seats,” said Disdikpora Badung Secretary Rai Twistyanti Raharja on Wednesday (24/6/2026). The domicile pathway, which is based on a student’s place of residence, has the largest share of capacity compared to other pathways in Badung’s SMP SPMB. The prediction of a backlog in this pathway is also based on the results of the two earlier selection stages, namely the transfer and affirmation pathways. The acceptance rate for the transfer and affirmation pathways was very low. Out of a total of 9,794 students who registered in the initial stage, only 224 applicants had their documents verified and were accepted. “The relatively low graduation results in the first two pathways are due to tight competition in accordance with the set quotas. The highest absorption was 105 students through the parental transfer pathway and 119 students from the affirmation pathway,” Rai stated. This year’s SMP SPMB in Badung Regency divides the acceptance quota into four tiered pathways. The breakdown is 5 percent for the transfer pathway, 20 percent for affirmation, 25 percent for achievement, and 40 percent for domicile. “This percentage distribution policy is the government’s commitment to improving the equitable quality of education across all schools. Currently, the process for the first two pathways is complete, and we are entering the selection stage for the achievement pathway,” Rai said. To anticipate problems due to a surge in online registration traffic, the regional committee claims to have prepared a mature mitigation system. Disdikpora Badung has provided a dedicated, centralised communication channel so the public can receive quick, direct assistance. “We have prepared a special channel for complaints and consultations for the public. Technical obstacles are discussed there, but so far, thank God, it has been running smoothly,” Rai explained. The online registration process had previously been marked by several reports of minor technical issues from parents. The majority of complaints received by the committee related to system malfunctions on the registration page. “There were some questions from the public regarding the inability to click the register button on the system. However, that has been followed up and immediately resolved after prospective students were guided by operators in each sub-district,” Rai clarified. Overall, the timeline for the Badung Regency SMP SPMB is scheduled to run in stages over two full months. The initial stage of independent account creation and uploading administrative documents took place from 12 May to 11 June 2026. “The overall SMP SPMB registration is open from 12 June to 12 July 2026. Meanwhile, the selection schedule starts with the transfer pathway on 12 June, affirmation on 15 June, achievement on 22 June, and the domicile pathway on 25 June, with each pathway having a 30-day opening duration,” Rai concluded.