"I know a lot of people who were stuck," says Ayushi Jain from Preet Vihar, east Delhi, "the delay in admissions may not have made much difference to the kids but it mattered a lot to parents". Jain is hoping to secure a seat in Amity, Noida. "There are a few good schools in east Delhi as well but none of them will be within three kilometres. It'll be very difficult without sibling points," she says.

Ashish Berry prefers Delhi but intends to "block" a seat in NCR. "If my son gets into a good school in Noida, we'll keep him there but if he makes it to a better one in Delhi, we'll move him. We have shortlisted the schools on the basis of various ratings," says Berry.

"Parents are worried this time as they are totally unsure about next year's criteria and know there is no guarantee they'll get a seat in a school of their choice. We have not seen so many parents blocking seats in NCR in the past, knowing that major part of the fee will not be refunded," said Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com.

NCR admissions are unregulated unlike in Delhi where the Directorate of Education issues common guidelines and schedule for all schools. Till the 2013-14 session, private unaided schools were permitted to decide on their own points distribution systems.

But following the lieutenant governor's order last year for the 2014-15 session, DoE had fixed a points distribution system for everyone, leading to about half a dozen court cases?most initiated by parents?and several stays. As a result, the process of admissions was delayed by about four months.

However, DoE has indicated that the guidelines will be coming early this year.