Is this admission fraud? AIBU to report it?

No you shouldn’t report it. Why make a child suffer because of jealousy? The parents are doing their absolute best to give their child a good start in life from what you told us.

Here's the situation.

We live in a grammar school catchment area that gets smaller every year. When we bought our house several years ago, it was very comfortably within the catchment for an excellent local grammar (very high in the league tables), and oh boy was it reflected in the price. Now we're right on the boundary. Among the thirty or so houses around us, some children got in last year and some didn't, literally a difference of a few yards.

Another child on our street, who is in the same class as my DC, only just passed the 11+ (a few points above the pass threshold). We live on the same road, but they are about 50 yards further from the school gate. Based on last year's distances, my child would likely get a place while theirs wouldn't.

Over the weekend, during a sleepover, the child mentioned that her mother has now rented a house much closer to the school to secure a higher priority for admission. The tenancy was apparently signed one day before the cut-off date, making it "legal" for admission purposes. She still owns their original home, but the story being presented is that relatives who were previously "homeless" will now live there free of charge, and all bills and utilities have been transferred into those relatives' names (I strongly suspect that the mother will in fact pay these bills as those relatives are penniless).

She's even moved the children's belongings to the rented property and makes them spend nights there (they hate it). There's no doubt that once the school place is obtained, they will move right back.

This effectively pushes my child down the priority list and means they may now miss out.

Would this constitute admissions fraud? It feels incredibly unfair that someone with £40k to spare for rent can effectively buy their way into a top grammar school, especially when their child didn't perform particularly well in the exam (despite being tutored for hours every day).

Should I report this? I have no more detail apart from what this child told me (and they obviously weren't too sure about some aspects of it due to age).

Under most local authorities school admissions arrangements, this would be fraud and not legal. You have to have either disposed of your own property or it has to be a situation where you can’t possibly travel back e.g. you’ve moved 100 miles away. You need to check the rules for your own local authority. You can report also anonymously. If it’s within the rules then nothing will happen, if it’s not well, then it’s probably best reported now, where they have time to use her main address rather than get a place and have it removed after offers day.

If you know, then others will know and I bet if you haven’t reported, someone else will.

I failed my 11+ and went to a terrible secondary school. It didn't stop me getting the highest grade A'levels, admission to a top University and a professional career (incidentally getting higher grades than my friends who did pass). If your children are smart and you value education as a family, they can still do well at a "lesser" school.

We're right on the edge of the catchment. Based on last year's "furthest distance offered" and what happened with our immediate neighbours, my child would likely have received a place while hers wouldn't. Of course, no one can predict exactly how the catchment boundary will shift this year. Hope this clarifies.

She's a single mother, so no, she is not separating from a husband. And the family moving in will be massively over-housed, three people in a five-bedroom place, so makes zero sense.

Yes, I'm assuming they still live in the old house most, or at least some, of the time. I've just looked out the window, and the mum's car is parked outside there, with the ground dry underneath it.

I honestly can't believe people genuinely think that. We bought this house when my eldest was still in Infants, long before we had any idea whether they'd even be grammar-school material. Sure, the school was one of many nice aspects of the area, but so were the local lovely park and the easy commute. That's a far cry from scrambling to rent a place after a child only just scraped a pass (in an exam their own mother expected them to fail), isn't it?

Here's the situation.

We live in a grammar school catchment area that gets smaller every year. When we bought our house several years ago, it was very comfortably within the catchment for an excellent local grammar (very high in the league tables), and oh boy was it reflected in the price. Now we're right on the boundary. Among the thirty or so houses around us, some children got in last year and some didn't, literally a difference of a few yards.

Another child on our street, who is in the same class as my DC, only just passed the 11+ (a few points above the pass threshold). We live on the same road, but they are about 50 yards further from the school gate. Based on last year's distances, my child would likely get a place while theirs wouldn't.

Over the weekend, during a sleepover, the child mentioned that her mother has now rented a house much closer to the school to secure a higher priority for admission. The tenancy was apparently signed one day before the cut-off date, making it "legal" for admission purposes. She still owns their original home, but the story being presented is that relatives who were previously "homeless" will now live there free of charge, and all bills and utilities have been transferred into those relatives' names (I strongly suspect that the mother will in fact pay these bills as those relatives are penniless).

She's even moved the children's belongings to the rented property and makes them spend nights there (they hate it). There's no doubt that once the school place is obtained, they will move right back.

This effectively pushes my child down the priority list and means they may now miss out.

Would this constitute admissions fraud? It feels incredibly unfair that someone with £40k to spare for rent can effectively buy their way into a top grammar school, especially when their child didn't perform particularly well in the exam (despite being tutored for hours every day).

Should I report this? I have no more detail apart from what this child told me (and they obviously weren't too sure about some aspects of it due to age).

She's a single mother, so no, she is not separating from a husband. And the family moving in will be massively over-housed, three people in a five-bedroom place, so makes zero sense.

You also tried to buy your child a place at the school by moving within what you believed was the catchment area.

What was she meant to do? Deliberately move to an area with a terrible school for the greater good?

Perfectly legal. As long as it is the child’s main residence at the admission deadline and until the place is offered (in some areas it is until the child starts the school)

You also tried to buy your child a place at the school by moving within what you believed was the catchment area.

The absolute desperation of some parents. I’ve heard it all now.

Yes, unfortunately the only alternative school for my DC is genuinely crap. And it's not just about one child, if the eldest doesn't get in, the younger two won't benefit from sibling priority (which would counteract the shrinking catchment), so the whole family is essentially f**d.