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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to report someone fiddling the admissions system

153 replies

notwithme · 12/01/2011 20:19

A friend of mine sold their house and rented a house in our street.

They have sent in their admissions form, the deadline was last week.

They are moving out of their rental this week, into a much cheaper rental on the other side of town.

She says she is having her post redirected so she doesn't miss the schools offer.

It's an oversubscribed school and even some children who attend the pre-school don't get in if they are out of catchment.

I'm not normally the whistle blowing type but this has really annoyed me.

OP posts:
fedupwithdeployment · 13/01/2011 11:40

If she is breaking the rules I suspect she will be caught out.

We have just done the application for DS2 to start primary school and it is a little bit complicated because we are not living in our house at the moment - we move into it in June. I told the story to the Admissions woman and she accused me a fraud. I was a bit pissed off to put it mildly. Then a kind MNetter pointed out that as DH is military we get some dispensations, and so it is not fraud.

I think this kind of thing happens a lot. I have a work colleague who tells me that the head of the school where is daughter is about6 to go told him to use grannie's address as she looks after the children most afternoons. Suspect that is also fraud, but he is doing it, and I am not reporting him.

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 13/01/2011 11:50

I think the simple answer is, if she is within the rules then it's not fraud, and it's not dishonest.

kepler10b · 13/01/2011 11:53

i wouldn't report her. it's the system that is the problem. you can't really blame parents for doing everything they can to get the best for their children.

the child has to go to school somewhere so it's not as if she has stolen a place as some people put it. it is wrong that people have to be driven to these extremes to get their children into what they consider a good school.

all schools should be good - that's not to say they will all get the same results - but they should all offer the opportunity to get good results.

Onetoomanycornettos · 13/01/2011 11:57

Well, what she's doing ISN'T wrong, it's perfectly possible that people may live in one house when they make an application which is usually 8 months in advance, then move elsewhere after that time point. Is everyone supposed to not move having put one address down, even if they get a new job or just fancy moving? Or just go to the bottom of the queue after all the places are allocated?

I just think the system is against mobility (as fedupwithdeployment illustrates). I'm starting to think a lottery may be fairer (only joking!)

NorwegianMoon · 13/01/2011 11:58

if she was still living there when she sent the form in then she hasnt done anything wrong and has not fiddled the admissions system. why are you so bothered about it?

NorwegianMoon · 13/01/2011 12:02

I have to say that I know for a fact it isnt fraud or against any rules as I did something very similar. I applied for my son to get in to school X and then moved out of area accross town 4 weeks after receiving his acceptance and reply to accept the place. I was worried that I was moving out of area they woud take the place away but the council assured me that as long as you live at the address as the time you apply you are completly within your rights to take that place even if you subsequently move away.

so you dont need to worry about shopping her to the council now!

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 13/01/2011 12:03

Onetoomanyconrettos - No - a lottery is absolutely the right system. A system of choice only works if there surplus in the system. Which there isn't.

PatriciaHolm · 13/01/2011 12:26

In our county (Surrey) this wouldn't work, as you have to provide proof of address at the point of acceptance of the offer, not of application. So if she can't do that in April, she'll have the place taken away anyway.

There is no problem with moving after having made a school application; the problem comes if you don't tell the county that you have moved.

KnittedBreast · 13/01/2011 12:32

actually you can get round it. All you need to do is produce proof of your tenancy agreement and the dates involved

altinkum · 13/01/2011 12:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrSpoc · 13/01/2011 13:00

You sound like a snob with a chip on your shoulder. Your kids are already in the school and it comes across like you do not want her kids mingling with yours.

I would do anything to better my kids chances in life. Ive come from a very rough area and very bad schools. I never knew any different until i met my wife.

Now I would play any system to get the best places.

Good on her and please tell her how you feel so she can get rid of you as a friend. (Who needs enemies comes to mind).

(This is all about rich snobs not wanting us poor comminers bettering ourselves).

Casserole · 13/01/2011 13:06

Here if you're renting you have to provide a contract proving that your tenancy is for a year or more. So it depends what your rules are.

I understand how you feel. I think I'd feel the same. But I also think if my local school was rubbish I would definitely consider doing what she's doing. School's too important a choice to mess up. So I am entirely hypocritical on this subject.

crazygracieuk · 13/01/2011 13:14

I'd only do it if my child was trying to get a place too.

Not the morally correct answer but the truth!

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 13/01/2011 13:15

Blu there were similar problems at DS's school - lots of people moving away once their PFB had got in (thus securing places for younger siblings) whilst local children (jeez - I sound a bit Royston Vasey there Grin ) weren't able to get places.

The admissions rules have changed now so that siblings no longer get first dibs. However, the LEA had to backtrack and give first dibs to siblings already at the school prior to the rule change, as so many bleated about it. Better than nothing though - basically the siblings of any new puils are no longer getting priority.

tyler80 · 13/01/2011 13:17

I'm not sure how they could insist on a tenancy agreement of 12 months or more. I've only ever had tenancy agreements of 6 months which have then gone to rolling contracts.

DiscoDaisy · 13/01/2011 13:22

Jenai where we live siblings only get priority if you live in the catchment area for the school. If you move out of catchment between children starting then the sibling connection only takes priority after all the children living within catchment have been awarded places.

UnquietDad · 13/01/2011 13:31

Unfortunately you can only "report" people for breaking rules or actual fiddling, not for working the system to their advantage.

This person has done the latter, not the former. We may not like it, but it isn't actually "illegal" and she hasn't "stolen" anything.

UnquietDad · 13/01/2011 13:47

The main problem, of course, is that a system exists where people feel they need to do this.

KnittedBreast · 13/01/2011 13:52

what do you do when you dont live in catchment for any school except a posh relgious one your own child wouldnt get into?

haggis01 · 13/01/2011 14:15

I had this problem . My daughter was given the worst school in the area miles away as we weren't near enough to be top of the lists at others. We ended up moving and going on the waiting lists for the local schools and got a place when someone left - we just kept DS at home in the interval.

mercibucket · 13/01/2011 16:45

nellieforbush

'almost anyone can afford to rent for 6 months'

maybe on the planet you live on...

yes, indeed, planet earth where most people either rent or own a house. If you sell up, you have to live somewhere,no? So you either buy a new place or rent. If you can't afford the rent, then you claim housing benefit and the rent gets paid for you. Not everyone can afford to do it, but most people could if they were really bothered enough to sell up or move out of their other rented house.

WilheminaAteHer · 14/01/2011 18:27

But BeenBeta, what if your financial circumstances change while your kids are at the school and you can no longer afford to live there? Or your family is growing and you need more room, but can't afford a bigger place in the catchment, etc, etc? Much as I agree that fiddling is wrong, I can also see plenty of reasonable circumstances which might necessitate a move out of the catchment.

ccpccp · 15/01/2011 09:56

"Unfortunately you can only "report" people for breaking rules or actual fiddling, not for working the system to their advantage. " - UnquietDad.

Shes moved out of the area and if my reading of the OP is correct, needs to tell the school of this fact. Instead she is forwarding her mail to keep up the pretense of living in the catchment area. That would fall under breaking the rules.

I can completely see why parents pull whatever stunts they can to get their kids into the best schools, but make no mistake - for every played admission, a child who had more right to that place (within the admissions rules and framework) has been disadvantaged.

"I would do anything to better my kids chances in life. Ive come from a very rough area and very bad schools. I never knew any different until i met my wife.

Now I would play any system to get the best places." - MrSpoc

Refreshingly honest MrSpoc.

UnquietDad · 15/01/2011 16:10

My understanding was that you needed to tell the school if you have moved, just so that they can have your contact details up to date - not for any reasons which would impact on your child's place at the school. Once your child has a place, it can't be taken off you unless (a) you have actually lied about where you were living at the time or (b) your child is formally excluded.

TheCoalitionNeedsYou · 15/01/2011 19:04

Ccpccp - every child who has got in legitimately is ALSO disadvantaging a child who then can't get in. Happening to fulfill the criteria of an arbitrary system gives you no more 'right' than anyone else except within the bounds of that arbitrary system.