Is this admission fraud? AIBU to report it?

[grammarmom]

Here's the situation.

We live in a grammar school catchment area that gets smaller every year. When we bought our house several years ago, it was very comfortably within the catchment for an excellent local grammar (very high in the league tables), and oh boy was it reflected in the price. Now we're right on the boundary. Among the thirty or so houses around us, some children got in last year and some didn't, literally a difference of a few yards.

Another child on our street, who is in the same class as my DC, only just passed the 11+ (a few points above the pass threshold). We live on the same road, but they are about 50 yards further from the school gate. Based on last year's distances, my child would likely get a place while theirs wouldn't.

Over the weekend, during a sleepover, the child mentioned that her mother has now rented a house much closer to the school to secure a higher priority for admission. The tenancy was apparently signed one day before the cut-off date, making it "legal" for admission purposes. She still owns their original home, but the story being presented is that relatives who were previously "homeless" will now live there free of charge, and all bills and utilities have been transferred into those relatives' names (I strongly suspect that the mother will in fact pay these bills as those relatives are penniless).

She's even moved the children's belongings to the rented property and makes them spend nights there (they hate it). There's no doubt that once the school place is obtained, they will move right back.

This effectively pushes my child down the priority list and means they may now miss out.

Would this constitute admissions fraud? It feels incredibly unfair that someone with £40k to spare for rent can effectively buy their way into a top grammar school, especially when their child didn't perform particularly well in the exam (despite being tutored for hours every day).

Should I report this? I have no more detail apart from what this child told me (and they obviously weren't too sure about some aspects of it due to age).

Exactly. So the £40K is not expected to be a repeat annual expense, is it?

Thank you.

No it didnt.

But why should she house share if they don’t want to? This is just none of your business is it? Sounds like them needing a house presented an opportunity and she took it.

Omg again none of your business!!!

I wouldn't want to live with relatives unless I absolutely had to. Why would it be the logical arrangement if they can clearly afford a rental in the same area?

My thoughts exactly @KarmenPQZ 😅 But ignorance is bliss.

Why do you now think the mum isn’t your friend?

I'd check the admissions policy carefully, to see if this loophole is covered and report it to the school.

Report it. She has played a dirty game. Now it’s your turn. I wouldn’t be happy if my more able child lost a place to a less able child whose mum cheated the system. Yes you bought the house but you’re not considering renting another to guarantee entry. The fact the main house is being rented and to family should go in your favour. I wouldn’t let it drop.

It completely depends on the school’s admissions policy. Sometimes they state that a rental address can’t be used for admission purposes if another property is owned.

I’d have a lot more sympathy for you if you weren’t so determined to tell us how your child is intellectually superior (so magnanimously tutoring the little thicko over the road) to her cabbage-brained oik. Vile.

YABU

At the moment, they DO live there! OP is just annoyed that they played the game better than her. And questioning a child is pathetic.

Should renters not be able to apply in case they move?!

Sometimes it's about fostering good study habits. A lot of bright children have poor study habits and it lets them down on tests.

If it is Barnett, their admissions brochure is very clear that if you have lived in a property in the last two years and still own it, then that property will count as the permanent residence.

The logical arrangement would be for the other family to move into the rental.

It's all nonsense you thought you'd bought your way in by paying over the odds for a house and therefore putting your son above poorer people who couldn't afford to do so. Now she's bought her way in putting her son above yours. The consequence of a silly system.

We have grammars and if you pass and get over a certain amount, then it’s distance. It’s so the school is for local kids, rather than for kids from 30, 40 miles away.

THANK YOU.

My understanding is that what she has done would be looked upon very seriously by the local authority (could depend on the authority) and they could remove the school place - not fun for the child to be prepared to start at a school and then get removed once the LEA investigates.
The case above about a woman having her fraud case dropped only means she wasn't sued for her deception, it doesn't say whether the child lost their school place, which I suspect they did if the LEA were prepared to take it as far as they did.

Good study habits - you mean memorising data?

oooooo I remember going through all of this when I was 10. I refused to have a tutor as I thought it was unfair but my mum still made me do practice papers every Saturday morning.

I did the same with GCSEs and ALevels and found out even much cleverer people had private tutors to get the grades to get into their preferred university.

Also don't get me started on the fact because I was getting B's instead of A's the whole drama about getting me tested for Dyslexia etc....

Not if they can't afford it.

So if a mother moves out of a family home with the children because she separates from the father, and into a rental property closer to a particular school, but the divorce has not yet been finalised, the children would not get the school place? That seems very unfair on top of everything else the hypothetical children would be dealing with.

I think I misunderstood your OP.
She owns house A, her relatives have moved in with bills in relatives name.
She rents house B, with kids belongings and overnight stays there. And bills in her name.
Is she still living in house A or living house B? If she’s in B full time then probably legit. If she’s still in house A and pretending to be in house B I think that would be worth reporting because she’s probably breaking rules, but I guess that depends on the rules of your LA.

I seriously doubt this child just spontaneously decided to have a chat regarding the rental house contract being signed a "day before cut off", and that they've moved there to ensure they secure a place at the school 😂

Far more likely Mum has just told them they're renting a house to help their relatives out, and that's it. I think you've concocted the rest of the story, and then grilled a kid to twist it to your own narrative.

No doubt the Mum has done it to skew the system, but if it's legal (that's the only bit that counts). Then it's tough tit really.