Address fraud for grammar secondary

Unfortunate for the DC if parents are bending the rules but imagine if a family had bought a house to be in catchment and is on the waiting list. Would be much more unfair

It would be difficult for you to prove anything so I would personally not get involved

Just to be clear, the OP doesn't need to prove anything. That is up to the admission authority. They won't take a place away just because someone reports possible fraud. They will investigate and only take the place away if they are convinced that there has been fraud.

Truth is people are always bending the rules. I'm not sure which grammar this is: possibly Tiffin which has an IP and an OP but hardly takes kids from OP.

It would be difficult for you to prove anything so I would personally not get involved.

Off topic but The whole grammar school thing is so messed up: people travelling to different boroughs to take 11plus exams as 'mocks' - loads from our borough did that wirh QE boys - it's so unfair on local kids.

Some people don't have the option of moving house for one kid!

OP you should definitely report any suspicions and the LA can take it from there.

Everyone going on about not cheats only doing the best for their children... seriously? The admission rules are there for a reason.

Anyone who subverts those rules is cheating a child who genuinely qualifies out of the place that is rightly theirs.

Never ok

It might well not be fraud or it could have been mistakes by the school, if it is reported it will be investigated properly. No one will be punished, just things remained the same or restored to where they should be.

School admission frauds are not victimless, there are other students wanting the place too,. You might not know them, they are real people nonetheless.

I find all these school admission rules complicated and unfair at time, but they are published in advance so at least people know when they stand, it will be chaos and a free-for-all if they are not followed.

These threads always divide opinion. As awful as it is to query someone's place, it would be anarchy if everyone bent the rules. It only stops if people fear being reported. As I said, maybe they have exchanged contracts or something?

As someone with a child on a waiting list for a grammar place, I'd disagree that is the right decision. My DC would also be very happy to get an offer

I think you’re doing the right thing @Daaaaa.

Objectively and dispassionately, dobbing them in is right -it is fraud and some other child will suffer.

However, you know these people, you know the child.

You don’t have to approve obviously.

If they are moving, it's possible that they have exchanged contracts and provided proof to the school & LA.
Where I am, the council know where you live and pay council tax etc.
Otherwise the whole world would just make up addresses !!!

@XelaM What about the parents that we’re trying to do their best for their child who did meet the admissions criteria who has been denied a place because of her fraud?

Is it Latymer? Anyway, I would mind my own business and not meddle in anyone else's.

I actually know a family who definitely committed address fraud to get into an outstanding secondary with a tiny catchment (the girl's mother has told me herself as we live very close and would never qualify for that school). I would never report her. She did what she thought was best for her kid.

@SJaneS49 - I didn't say you weren't. Just pointing out that, if the child has got the place fraudulently, reporting it now would lead to a better outcome for them than the authorities finding out later.

Regarding individual deals, the school must stick to its published admission arrangements. If those arrangements give them some leeway to allow for delayed moves, they can do so. However, that is unlikely. A deal with a family to, in effect, change the admission arrangements specifically for them is not allowed.

If the OP is concerned, then she should report. The place won't be taken away if the child deserves the place. Places should be allocated according to the published rules. It is not about being spiteful or wanting a place for you own kids. People study and plan their life around these rules. Whether these rules are fair or not is another matter.

If it is the school I m thinking, I have also heard from a parent that their child has got a place there despite being miles away from catchment. Their child has rejected the place and going somewhere else anyway, so it has become an non-issue. The child has no EHCP or been looked after, they have applied to other numerous selective schools in different areas, both state and private and no school is named. I don't know whether the school is doing different things this year or not. Did they actually ask for address proof at deadline?

There is no way the parents can push it out to September without proving where they live. They will have been asked to provide details already.

You don't know if they have definitely not got an EHCP, very accademically gifted children can have additional needs.

Many families don't want to advertise their child was ever looked after.

There might be circumstances you know nothing about.

If you are determined, report, but be prepared for it to come to nothing if the school already know where they live. You are unlikely to ever find out the truth.

It would be worse for the child to start & then be found out later & have to leave. As stated above, nothing terrible will happen if there is no fraud & they have a place for other (legal) reasons.

@prh47bridge, your opinion and one you’re entitled too. As am I mine.

Sorry cross posted with @prh47bridge who is a genuine expert on admissions.

By a deal with the school, I guess I mean there could be a circumstance in which they are genuinely moving to inner catchment but the move has been delayed for some reason.... It can take a long time to exchange or complete. If the school were aware of this, they may have made a good faith exception. But I have no idea whether this is possible or what the legal standing would be when their admissions process clearly states you have to move by xx date.

Can the family have an individual deal with the school

If they have, that would be a breach of the Admissions Code.

it wouldn’t sit well on my conscience that I’d acted to take away their child’s place

So it sits fine with you that by not acting you have allowed them to cheat another child out of a place? That certainly wouldn't sit fine with me. And, if they are going to lose the place, it is better for them and their child if they lose it now rather than part way through the autumn term, which is what could happen if this isn't reported.

You don't know it's actually fraud yet

The OP doesn't need to know if it is fraud before reporting. That is for the admission authority to determine.

Are you certain the only admission criteria once you've passed the 11+ is distance

As per my last post, that cannot legally be the only criteria. Children with an EHCP naming the school always get admitted. Unless the school admits purely on highest score (which is clearly not the case here), looked after and formerly looked after children must be admitted.

So they must be using an in catchment address to remain on the list, unless they have a deal with the school. If it is the school I'm thinking of, no OOC children get places as the inner catchment is massive

Not necessarily. If their child has an EHCP naming the school or is a formerly looked after child, they are entitled to the place regardless of where they live.

My dc1 has just got into a grammar with an inner and outer catchment. We are in the inner catchment, although he also had the grade high enough for the small number of out of catchment places.

We had to prove our address by 11th March. It wasn't good enough to say we lived there, we needed something with address on for us and dc1. (That was tricky given he doesn't get much post!)

Are you certain the only admission criteria once you've passed the 11+ is distance? It couldn't be there are some places for other reasons, because its not good enough to lie about where you live, you need to be able to prove it.

(The school dc1 is going to has 20 places held for outer catchment areas but requiring a much higher pass mark, also children with an ECHP will have priority, theres also other special circumstances they can consider.)

I would do nothing for now. If they are unable to prove they live where they said they did by the next couple of weeks they'll have the offer removed.

How well do you know the family? It doesn't sound like you know the full details. You don't know it's actually fraud yet. Reporting them so their child looses the place won't mean your child will automatically get it, which is what I take from your post, is your issue with this family.