pretending i live in a decent catchment area?

[biscuitdunkernomore]

would this work?

My dd is due to start secondary school in sept 2007 and the local secondary school is terrible (one of the top 10 worst schools in the country, plus bullying, riots etc etc)

There is another school about 5 miles away, that is much better, but we can't afford to live there

could we rent a small flat there and pretend this was our primary residence in order to get our daughter in? would this work and has anyone else done this?

your thoughts please ladies and gentlemen

[Rhubarb]

You'll be found out.

[bubblerock]

I guess if it was that easy then everyone would do it and no one would send their children to the crap schools. I pressume the schools around bad schools are very aware of parents doing this sort of thing to get into the school but I'm not sure how they investigate. I don't think anyone could blame you for trying to do the best for your dd though

[Gem13]

There was a programme on this a while ago now.

A couple of parents had done this. One family lived in the rented property 'properly' and were ok for the school. The family who used it for the address were found out and didn't get in. The head checked utility bills, council tax bills, etc. and hand delivered letters to check who was living at the property.

It was quite unnerving seeing the lengths of deception and the lengths of checking by the head.

Personally I would move which is not the answer you were looking for. I wouldn't be able to go through all that worry. Plus the children were getting very stressed by it all too.

[Rhubarb]

Do you have any relatives that live there? You could put down a relatives address and say that they are the legal guardians of your kids. I dunno. Custy did something like this eons ago I think, you'd need to ask her, but as Bubblerock says, they know people do this so they do spot checks including turning up unannounced on the doorstep of the house.

I suppose if you rented a flat there, you could technically claimed that you lived there. But if the school is that bad, they'd know all the tricks being used by parents in the other school.

[biscuitdunkernomore]

rhubarb - would they check? (i guess so)

at the moment, we are considering all options but i will not send any child of mine to a school where they will almost certainly be bullied (it is rife and in particular the children that are being bussed in are spat on and abused on a regular basis by the local children)

The exam results also speak for themselves

our only other options are to move nearer the better school in which case we would be increasing our mortgage considerably but living in a much smaller house)

home education

or

me take on another job in addition to the two i already do

I know that pretending to live elsewhere is immoral, but i will live with it on my consciounce if neccessary

[TwoToTango]

I think you would be found out as in our area you have to provide proof of residence and if it is a leased property show a lease of at least 12 months.
I would be careful as if your dd got in and then you were found out it would be very hard for her if she then lost her place.
IMHO there is always a nosey neighbour or jealous parent just waiting to "drop you in it".
Round here we can put down 6 choices - can you perhaps but down choices that are further away but are better schools. I know there is no guarantee of getting where you want but if you don't make sure you put your name straight down on the waiting lists.
I really hope your dd gets in at a school you are happy with.

[biscuitdunkernomore]

oh i forgot about prostitution and converting to catholicism (much better RC school here)!

[jampots]

why not just apply normally? I did with our dd and she got into an excellent usually oversubscribed school 3 miles away - have to say it pissed a lot of people off though. That said, ds has now moved to one of their feeder schools and we will be living in the catchment by teh time his turn comes simply because Im not willing to risk it again

[LIZS]

Have heard of spontaneous visits to check out addresses and electoral roll etc. If the shcool near you is that bad preusmably ther eis competition for places and any application which is questionable ie. child currently attending a school out of the normal catchment area or at another postal address is likely to be scrutinised. Wouldn't it be easier just to try to move, even if perhaps to a smaller house, as presumably you have funds to even consider renting as a possiblity ?

[bubblerock]

Could you rent out your current house (if your mortgage lender allows it) and rent in the preferred area. This way your mortgage will be paid on your current house and you will only have 1 set of bills to pay.

[Tortington]

i would seriously give it a go

[cece]

bubblerocks idea seems best imo as they will check and expect to see council tax bills etc. If you have two properties then this will show up on council tax billas the second property is treated differenttly isn't it?

[Tortington]

so pay full council tax on it. put one house in your name the opther in dhs name

[expatinscotland]

but surely if you can afford a rent AND a mortgage, you can afford to move to a better area?

[Littlefish]

The head teacher at a school I used to work in hand delivered the offer letters to each house so that he could be sure the address was being used properly! This was for a primary school.

Schools know the addresses of many of the rented properties in the area as they may have seen them on application forms many times before.

I would go and see the head teacher and discuss the possiblity of your children attending there while you are living at your current address. At least then you can find out whether there is any chance, or whether you need to consider other ways of doing it.

[Tortington]

but once you have a place you can give up the tenancy - they dont throw you out of schools for moving

[Yorkiegirl]

actually they could revoke the place if they found out you had lied. That's what it said in the guidelines we were sent when we applied for DD1's school place. Not sure how often they do it but it was definitely stated.

[Peachyclair]

We moved into this area (A huighly sought after school near a big city) and we were offered palces immediately, one currentb reception and one about to start. NO evidence of address was requested, or evidence of tenancy length (NB: many tenancies, especially initial ones, are six months so they can't justr efuse a six monther, they'd have nowhere to go if they didn't have their own house)

Having said that, I don't like lying and wouldn't do it myself.

[AngelaD]

I would personally, if you had a year tennancy you would get away with it.

[DominiConnor]

Rhubarb says you'll be found out, and I don't have any way of judging the chances. I have read of schools doing basic due dilligence if they suspect, but that means you ought to do stuff like get official correspondence, (tax etc) sent there.

But if you were caught, how much worse would it make things ?

I hear there is bullying at this school, which is frankly what's going on here. The state is bullying you to send your kids to a school that is crap. Thus if it you do get found out, it's a good idea to make yourself a harder target. Local councils are bullies by nature, and if they feel that you're going to make a fight of it, may well just find an easier target.

[Nightynight]

biscuitdunker, I might try that in your situation. But dont do it by halves - as Gem said, move into the property and make the "deception" totally real, so that you dont get caught out. Could you rent your house out for a year to help cover the costs?
I heard about someone doing this in Reading, about 6 years ago. I think it depends on the school how much checking they do.

[Rhubarb]

DominiConnor - such a pleasure to be mentioned in one of your posts!

[GDG]

Ds1 started in reception last September, as we'd only moved in January we weren't on the electoral roll yet and the head turned up on my doorstep to 'check' that we really lived there! Primary school I know, but they do check, particularly if it's a popular and oversubscribed school. I personally wouldn't risk it. If I rented the flat I'd go and live in it at least, in case someone turned up!

[expatinscotland]

'I hear there is bullying at this school, which is frankly what's going on here. The state is bullying you to send your kids to a school that is crap. '

Wise and true words, Domini

[LeahE]

I agree that if you're going to do it you need to actually go and live in the flat for real until your dd's actually started at the school. If this good school's so close to the really dire one then it's highly likely that they get a lot of this sort of thing and hence highly likely to have introduced checking procedures.