I'm torn on this one. There's pretty much nothing I wouldn't do to make sure DS stays in the schools he's in, and I'd have gone to the end of the earth to get him a place to begin with. He's a tricky child (still awaiting diagnosis, but everyone, professionals included, speaks as if he already has the diagnosis in place, so it feels like it's a given). If a fib was the only way I could have got him in, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I'm not sayng it's not a shitty thing to do for other children, but to cut it down to the bare bones of the matter, I care more about DS than any other child in the world (apart from DD obviously).
Just to be extra hypocritical, I would report suspected fraud if DS didn't get a place if I thought it would up his chaces of being offered one retrospectively.
As it happens, DS's school is a very underrated small primary in the middle of a (largely still) 'council' estate, and hasn't been oversubscribed in years. Assumptions are made that it's a bad school based on location, the fact that their SATS results are never anything to sing about and they're within spitting distance of three Ofsted Outstanding schools. When you actually look at the school, the community feeling and the pastoral care is absolutely amazing! They have a huge portion of SEND children, with the associated funding, equipment and specialist staffing which goes hand in had with that. The care, support and education they offer DS is exemplary. That's miles more important to me that SATS results or Ofsted reports.
They're on phase two of four of building hundreds of new houses nearby, which will put pressure on the local schools. We moved two streets away from the school in the middle of said council estate when DS was two to give us a fighting chance of him getting a place there (we're still living there, and won't be moving for the forseeable future, if at all). If we'd done that, and still not got him a place, I'll admit I'd have been mutinous.
In all, I don't really have any right to comment on what other people are doing with regard to school admissions given the way I know I would act if needed.