Temporarily moving for Primary admissions

[Humdingledom]

So I know lots of people do this but can’t help but think it’s really fucking cheeky

We are lucky enough to live in the catchment of the most oversubscribed school in the city. The family of DCs friend at school left their house they own and rented very close to the school so their DC got a guaranteed place at the primary school, and now DC has been there a term they are moving back to the house the own in a different area. There are easily 5 primary schools between here and where they live, with some
of them also “Outstanding” but ours does have a certain reputation.

I know other families temporarily moved in with the grandparents to be closer in the catchment and have now moved back outside the area or are planning to.

Like I said I know lots do it but it’s very annoying when friends that actually live on the catchment border missed out for places at the school when they had the option of two schools.

Let’s be clear I’m definitely not being snobby, I think it’s actually really rude of people who have luxury of moving temporarily when there’s people closer who maybe can’t afford to do that missing out!

Every child equally deserves a good education. The current system is not good enough and I can’t really blame parents who try to make the best for the children. It’s the system of education that needs sorting. No schools should be left underperforming.

Nothing will be done if reported as they DID live in the area on application date. Council would not have the time or resources to peruse it. There job os for all children to get a school place. Which they have.
This thing is common. We all will know a parent who did this. Money does talk sadly.

@Highfivemum

That is wrong, it’s fraudulent and can be investigated

@schooladmission

Hello - I have NC for this as my answer will probably out me for where I work.

I work in school admissions in a London borough with some very sought after very naice middle class schools that people lie and cheat to get in to so we are vigilant with address checks - the cost of renting a place for a year can be cheaper than paying for 3 kids to attend the private schools in our area.

If OP was to report this case to us, it would fall foul of our admissions rules - we state that where a family own a property and are living in a rented property, we will calculate the admissions from the owned property - unless the family have lived away from the owned property for 3 years or more (or have never lived in it because they are landlords). We have made a few exceptions when supported with supporting evidence as to why family have been placed in this position. We will not accept, bad housing market etc as a reason. People will not realise that that they are breaking our rules (because the didn't read the admission arrangements) and will admit that they intend to buy further from the school one they have secured a place for the oldest child.

In this case as the child has been attending for a full term, it is very unlikely that the place would be withdrawn as the child has settled - but we would remove sibling priority for any subsequent siblings - thereby almost guaranteeing that they will not be offered a place if they are applying from the address they have just moved back to.

@Highfivemum

Whenever there is a thread about moving to get into a decent school, the suggestion always comes up that parents should 'put their energies' instead into campaigning to improve the 'bad' school in their locality. This rather misses the point that they have no interest in doing this, and probably not much in the way of 'energies' either.

Mine are way past primary school age now, but I'm thinking of some of the poorer schools in our city and what it would take to get them up to the standard of those in the better areas, and at the end of the day, I can't think of any solution that would work, short of picking up the exact same school with the exact same teachers and resources and depositing it in a more leafy postcode.

Some schools do change and turn around long term, but this usually takes longer than the primary school life of one child (7 years), so parents would be investing their energies in improving the school for future children, not their own.

And actually, anyway, a lot of schools in more difficult areas can be better resourced and equipped and have more dedicated staff than those in grotty areas, and yet still under-perform.

Than those in non-grotty areas, that should read. Sorry, that doesn't make sense otherwise.

Two kids in my DCs class got places they weren't entitled to. They were reported and investigated but ultimately could provide the proof of council tax bill being in their name even though it was common knowledge they don't live in that address. The council don't care if proof is provided. Two other children who live locally missed out because of them.

I based my previous answer on experience.
I suppose each LA will act differently. When my old work colleague reported to LA about this happening they said as the people had lived at that address ( temp 3 months rental) they had not acted illegal and they could do nothing.

@Humdingledom please report them. I don’t know whether their dc will lose their place but it’ll send a strong message to others considering doing the same.

All children should have equal access to good schools
So who gets the places in the poor schools?

Sadly, it's not even the case of very bad Vs very good schools in many cases, as in OP its wanting access to the outstanding school when they are good schools in their catchment areas.

And worse is that their judgment is often based on OFSTED reports only.

This results in dreadful unecessary traffic as parents travel across the town and cities to take the kids in the out of catchment schools. The same who often will tell you proudly how they help the environment by recycling and chastised those who don't!

It's entitlement culture and my kids is more deserving then any other and the assumption their kids will become the next CEO because they attended they outstanding school rather than the good one like the suckers neighbour. Pathetic.

@Highfivemum

I based my previous answer on experience. I suppose each LA will act differently. When my old work colleague reported to LA about this happening they said as the people had lived at that address ( temp 3 months rental) they had not acted illegal and they could do nothing.

Where I live you need to provide proof of 12 months rental.

@Humdingledom

I’m not reporting anyone but it is common knowledge among the parents so maybe someone else will.

Well stop moaning about it then! They’ve committed fraud. Some other families who genuinely live in the catchment but not near enough may have missed out on a place, and have to spend a fortune getting their child to a school much further away.

This stuff really annoys me.
Out of interest, what actually happens when parents are reported for this and it’s all proved correct that they fraudulently got their child a school place? Do they get fined/ does their child lose their place? Bad for the child, but then another child living close by could be going to that school instead.

‘I’ve got money so I can play the system, disregard the rules, and fuck everyone else’

I can’t be bothered with this tbh. Everyone in a city will be paying council tax, income tax, etc etc and yet some schools are way better than others.
Until there is better ( or actual) equality in the education system, this will continue to happen.
Who wants to move/ rent for the sake of it.

Yes, your parents were privileged enough to be able to buy a house just before you had to attend this school.
Maybe these parents can’t afford to do that.
It’s not something I would do but I don’t blame them at all. We all want the best for our children.

Meh 😑

we all want the best for our children

Yes but at the expense of others? If it’s really about affordability - lots of people who are just “average” couldn’t afford to rent a house and pay an existing mortgage too, two council tax bills and all the other costs. But they might live on the edge of the catchment, still missing out of the school is very oversubscribed.

If the other school was shit I’d get it but from the sounds of it there’s a lot of good alternatives

Where I live you need to provide proof of 12 months rental.

Do you know what happens to people who have moved for legitimate / unavoidable reasons in the past 12 months? It seems very unfair that their children should be placed at the bottom of the admissions pile, especially as renters often have little control over if and when they have to move. I wonder if it might count as a form of discrimination?

Thank goodness that wasn’t the case in our borough when we were applying for DD’s reception place; we’d have been screwed as we’d only arrived in the country 4 months previously!

@Soberiscoolnow

we all want the best for our children

Yes but at the expense of others? If it’s really about affordability - lots of people who are just “average” couldn’t afford to rent a house and pay an existing mortgage too, two council tax bills and all the other costs. But they might live on the edge of the catchment, still missing out of the school is very oversubscribed.

If the other school was shit I’d get it but from the sounds of it there’s a lot of good alternatives

If it’s oversubscribed, every child who is admitted is done so “at the expense of someone else”?

The village I stay in has one of the top performing state schools in the country. People have actually rented in the village purely to have an address within the catchment area. They haven't lived there just paid the rent & registered for council tax

Absolute madness

It’s awful. One of the mums at school is always bleating about how she’d never dream of sending her kids to a fee-paying school because private education is immoral, yet she openly admits to moving into her BTL flat in the posh part of town for a year to get her son into the “outstanding” secondary

I would have done the same if mine had gone to a state primary.

Side effect: All the parents in cars picking kids up because they live too far away to walk?

@FortySeven Why is it awful that someone wanted their child to go to an outstanding state school? Surely we’d all choose that if we could? I can’t see the issue.

YABU for being pissed off about it if you aren't reporting it. Choosing not to report it is collaborating in the deception and fraud so you're being hypocritical to moan about it. If it's wrong then it needs reporting. If you are choosing not to report then you are accepting that it's ok.