Is this admission fraud? AIBU to report it?

This is too stupid for words. Do you take that view of all aspects of fraud, or only admissions fraud? Anyone is free to report their suspicions whether they have personal involvement or not, in the same way you are free to report seeing your neighbour's bike being stolen,.whether they occasionally let you use it or not.

One of the definitions of the word 'victim' is 'someone who has been hurt by the actions of someone else'. A.child has been denied a school place to which they were entitled by a child who isn't. The OP's child might not be the victim here, we can't say for sure, but wherever there is an incident of proven admissions fraud someone's child is the victim of that. That is a simple fact, you 'agreeing' with it is neither here nor there as schools, LAs and even courts have all agreed with it.

It’s possibly worth giving my experience of a desirable school that was the target of a lot of ‘playing fast and loose with admissions rules.’

There was something of a frenzy around it in the ‘peak’ years - a sort of desperation that the catchment was shrinking, that ‘everyone’ was playing the system - that fed into a spiralling increase in unscrupulous practices.

The school and LA embarked on quite a high profile campaign. There were some notable removals, some property blacklisting, and basically very clear messaging that said ‘this behaviour is fraud, it’s disadvantaging less well off families who live on the edges of the catchment, we don’t want it and we will be militant in identifying it and acting against it.’

The result was a much more calm, predictable and orderly situation. The catchment stabilised, to the full extent of its drawn boundaries. People could rely on their house being stably ‘in’ and so didn’t fight to move ever closer, and the house price gradients near the school became shallower. Almost all potential fraud was identified before places are allocated, and it became much less necessary for people to report, as the behind-the-scenes processes became smoother and more sophisticated.

There were other factors at play, as well, but it was interesting that a clear crackdown made admissions so much more predictable year on year.

The objective test of whether a child is good enough for the grammar school, in OP's area, is whether or not they attained the pass mark. Which both children did, in the case of this thread

As the applications aren't ranked by score, the child next door to the school and number 1 on the list may have squeaked a pass or waltzed through with one hand tied behind their back.

That's assuming a grammar school education is the best thing for them. In lots of cases (see crazy parents) children are coached and end up in a school where they struggle because it is what the parent wants.

How do you know you are correct in your presumptions OP? You don't know any of the details for sure, do you.
And even if the story is correct, another person who wasn't feeling personally invested might well say that she was doing a very moral thing, providing housing for her refugee relatives.
And as for your outrage at "the unfairness of it all"...get a life.

yes, this framing is fair IMO!

The victim in this scenario is the child who is 150 on the list, and gets bumped to 151 (and now misses out on a grammar education) due to this short-term faked “permanent residency” in the catchment area.

I don’t think it is reasonable to say ‘school admissions are not perfectly fair to everyone, due to variables beyond school admissions’ control, so all breaking of the rules around school admissions is fine.’

That’s like saying ‘Everyone is not equally wealthy, so it’s fine to steal’

Ah, ok. I had perhaps overstated the language.

There is obviously someone who is ‘doing wrong’ (deliberately or accidentally) and therefore there is someone who suffers ‘wrong done to them’, which can be rectified through re-assigning a school place acquired through wrongdoing.

Nah, It's unlikely to be a crime unless you forge documents or impersonate someone. Certainly in complying with the letter (if not the spirit of the law) it wouldn't be a crime. It's a civil/ administrative issue- the only repercussion would be loosing the place.
In terms of a "victim" the admissions process is fundamentally unfair. Why is OP's child more deserving of a place than another child just because OP can afford to pay a premium for a house in catchment? If one chikd is a victim by missing out so is another. The rules are as they are , both parents are playing them to the best advantage of their child within the means they have available.

(Full Time)

Additionally, no intent/malice has to be proven (entirely possible for, say, divorced parents to believe they can use either address even if they aren’t 50:50)

The redress is to remove the place from the child who has used the incorrect address (assuming their correct address doesn’t also qualify!) and to give it to the next child on the list.

But it is fraud in a lot of areas if they don't move into and live in the property by a certain date and through a certain point in time.

I don’t think it is a crime, in this case, because there isn’t an action against a company or person to defraud them of money or assets.

It is classed as fraud. Is fraud not a crime?

If child A gets a place through fraud, and child Z does not because they are the last on the ‘place honestly obtained’ list, how is child Z not a victim? They have been deprived of something that is rightfully theirs, through a fraudulent act.

i don't agree with this at all. It's not OP's duty or business to report. I also don't agree that it is a "crime" or that there is a "victim".

Hopefully, the school / LA (who might anyway have picked up on the timeframe of the address change) are neutrally factual in their investigation - simply that this application has aspects that make it look
worthy of investigation, so they are carrying out the investigation.

I’ve had 3 children. I’ve met A LOT of crazy parents in my time! They walk among us!

I felt like a victim when I was wrongly accused. Don't think it is ok to throw dirt, even if it doesn't stick it is nasty.

There was me thinking being invited round to "play" so mum could assess child was a one off and immediately hear if two more. There's more crazy around than I realised.

It is not immoral to report a possible case of admissions fraud. You report to the relevant authority and that is the end of your involvement. They will decide whether it is worth investigating or not. It is no more immoral than reporting any other crime - if you saw someone stealing something would you not report it?

Admissions fraud - where it has been committed - is not a victimless crime. The victim of it is a child who should have got into a particular school but has been cheated out of it by the parent of another child who has broken the law by pretending something is true when it is not.

Dura Lex, Sed Lex.

This exact same thing happened once when I went to a friend’s house. The mother was training to be a teacher so I remember thinking maybe it’s something to do with that.

I then passed my 11 plus and her DD didn’t. Years later the DM was my DS’s reception teacher, she hated my DS and I really think it was because of the whole 11plus thing.

I had a bonkers experience like that with my middle child when she was 6 and we moved to a new area. We were invited for tea and play at a school friends house - we turn up and the dining table is set up like a school with lots of writing and reading activities. The other mum just wanted to see where dd was at as she had heard dd was bright and her dd had always been the cleverest girl in class - she wanted to make sure dd was no “threat” 🙄😂

Her daughter didn’t play ball and just harassed her about wanting to go and play in the garden until she gave in, so her plan didn’t work.

Some people lead such sad, odd little lives, it’s baffling.

Yes, we had a funny one with DD. A girl invited her to go to her house after school for a playdate and dinner. When she got there the girls mother had practice papers and made DD do two tests and then told her she was surprised she didn't get a higher mark. DD passed the other girl didn't. I said to the Head that some of the parents were crazy, he put his head in his hands and agreed.