Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

thinking they have used my address to gain a school place?

201 replies

bostonbaby · 12/06/2015 10:24

We bought this house at the end of last year.
It is very close to an excellent, very much over subscribed school.
The couple we bought it from had a little kids and we're moving to the next (cheaper, not good schools) area along for a bigger house to fit all their kids in.
Not had any mail for them as assuming they had a redirect set up.
This week we've suddenly had a few bits for them. Including a 'to the parent/guardian of xxx' from the outstanding school
It seems they have applied from this address rather than their own, where they stand no chance of getting in.
What should I do? I feel like returning it to school and saying they haven't lived here since December but then I feel sly. Then I think another child will have missed out on their rightful place. And why should they move to a considerably cheaper area and still get the perks of the more expensive one? My child hasn't missed out on this btw but they have 4 kids now guaranteed a place in that school from this.
Wwyd?

OP posts:
PenguinBollards · 12/06/2015 13:20

"How do you know someone else's child missed out? You don't."

The OP said the school in question was heavily over-subscribed, so it's entirely reasonable to assume that someone else living in the catchment area missed out on a place, especially as the house in question is very near to the school and therefore gets precedence over houses further out in the catchment.

Of course, it is not impossible that at this heavily over-subscribed school the total number of applications for this year group just happened to be exactly the same as the number of available school places, so no one lost out on a place. Not impossible, but not very likely.

Original poster
bostonbaby · 12/06/2015 13:21

I have binned all the rest of the mail. I would hope they would have changed the address for anything important within 6 months.
I was concerned about this one as it is important.
Between applying and this letter they would've had several other letters sent to them from schools, application received, supplimentary info requests, proof of address, decision letters etc. All of which I'm assuming would've been diverted from here to their new place. Along with bank statements, mobile phone bills, car documents etc. All of which are accepted by schools to verify address.
I pass both the school and the solicitors on the way to pick my own dc up and still haven't decided which one to take it to. Am leaning more towards the school though.

OP posts:
Original poster
bostonbaby · 12/06/2015 13:24

And no, it's not become my new hobby to look into this. I have been through this process for my children 6 times now so know the score

OP posts:
PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 12/06/2015 13:24

Don't send it to the solicitors.

Personally I would send it back to the school. Possibly even return it to the school office with a note clearly stating the date they left (though the LA will be able to get this from council tax data easily enough if they investigate).

Because, if they have done nothing wrong, the school will look into it and it will all be sorted.

If they have, I couldn't care less that there is a child excited about going to X school and her settling in. There is also poor child Y who missed out on a place and is now going to school B. And child Z who wanted school B and is now off to school C. And there are the children who miss out as their other three children get sibling places. And the siblings of those children.

Cheating your way into a school place isn't a 'one winner, one loser' situation. It affects lots of people. If they have cheated, it's a shitty thing to do and you deserve to be caught. And better now than three days into term when the sharp eyed friend of child Y sees them getting into the car and clocks that they live miles too far away to have secured a place this year....

Remembermyname · 12/06/2015 13:24

I don't understand - surely if you got any other post for them the usual thing to do would be to return to sender with 'not known at this address' on it. Why is this any different?

PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 12/06/2015 13:28

It's different to 'normal' post because it implies that there has been a fraudulent school application. You aren't obliged to act, but you are perfectly entitled to. Just like if you got post that suggested that they were still using the old address for some other purpose.

MrsMcColl · 12/06/2015 13:28

'I have binned all the rest of the mail.' You've been putting post in the bin?? I don't think you're supposed to do that!

TagineKaput · 12/06/2015 13:29

Return it to the school - why wouldn't you? They can sort it out whether it's an honest mistake or not. Giving it to the solicitors seems strange, it's absolutely nothing to do with them!

MrsMcColl · 12/06/2015 13:31

I would return it to the school. Not the solicitor, who will have closed their file by now.

plinkyplonks · 12/06/2015 13:31

Because it's so much more drama to take the time to come on to Mumsnet, made some suggestions the previous owners may be pulling a fast one - and instead of just returning to sender like every other normal person would do, they want to turn up at the school or solicitors with said letter instead?! WTF. OP sounds vindictive in this instance. The 'right' thing is obvious, but for whatever reason on the OPs part, that action isn't enough. Pathetic.

ilovesooty · 12/06/2015 13:33

If they've only paid for forwarding for six months it isn't the OP's responsibility to forward their mail.
It should be returned to sender though not binned.

MrsMcColl · 12/06/2015 13:34

By 'return to the school' I mean RTS. Not swish into the school in person bearing the letter aloft!

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 12/06/2015 13:35

Hang on, you've binned all of their other mail? Shock

It's only been 6 months, I've always done the whole "return to sender" thing for much longer than that.

theendoftheendoftheend · 12/06/2015 13:36

4 children and the eldest is only just starting school Shock Shock that can't be right can it?

MrsMcColl · 12/06/2015 13:39

It's possible, surely, to have four DC below school age? Certainly with twins thrown in, but even without.

BreadmakerFan · 12/06/2015 13:43

They could be 4,3,2 and a baby. Not difficult.

MezleyM · 12/06/2015 13:43

I work at a school (we're an academy so we handle all our own admissions). The system is ridiculous, but I'm not sure what the answer is. We recently had a child where the LEA had forgotten to update the child's new address, therefore he was in the wrong place on our waiting list, and someone else got offered a place (it has been sorted now...). This could be a) genuinely deceitful; b) correctly allocated (do you know the admissions policy for sure - different schools in the same LEA can have entirely different admissions criteria - or this child might have been allocated under a different category such as SEN/sibling/child of staff/in care/adopted from care/appeal etc etc that you just don't know about); c) an error on the part of the LEA (not correctly updating information); d) an error on the part of the school (see c). Address is one of many/several criteria and unless you know all the circumstances I don't see how you can possibly make a judgement here.
It's really not your problem...

PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 12/06/2015 13:48

Really easy to have four below school age . I can think of two families I know (one has twins in there)

lardyscouse · 12/06/2015 13:57

[I have binned all the rest of the mail.]

Then you have broken the law. And don't seem to worry that they may be missing important post. I keep a pen by the door and just write 'return to sender, addressee moved' on mail and pop it in the post box. Hardly an onerous task.

SoupDragon · 12/06/2015 13:58

Of course, it is not impossible that at this heavily over-subscribed school the total number of applications for this year group just happened to be exactly the same as the number of available school places, so no one lost out on a place. Not impossible, but not very likely.

My point being that no one knows whether this application was in any way fraudulent, thus no one knows whether a child has missed out.

NinkyNonkers · 12/06/2015 14:04

Does it really matter? Just return to sender

BertPuttocks · 12/06/2015 14:04

"Between applying and this letter they would've had several other letters sent to them from schools, application received, supplimentary info requests, proof of address, decision letters etc."

Not necessarily. The only letter I've had is one that invites the parents to an information meeting.

You say in your OP that you live "very close" to the school. In the time it's taken you to look up admissions policies and post on this thread, you could have handed the letter back to the school in person.

LovelyFriend · 12/06/2015 14:10

RTS.

DoughDoe · 12/06/2015 14:14

I think yabu about how 'good your area' is and how these plebs don't deserve a place because they've moved to a less good area.

If you have their address (I assume you do?), write it on and put in the post box. And if you don't, then just return to sender.

Not complicated.