Wrong address on School Admission - please help!

[namestresses]

Hi All,

I need your help - I am so stuck, I just don't know what to do.

When we applied for a primary school place, we lived at house X, close to our preferred school but out of catchment. Catchment is a not-so good school.

We moved house in April, just up the road to house Y, same catchment as the not so good school but slightly further from the preferred school.

We got the letter in May saying we hadn't got into the preferred school and we had got into the catchment one. Disappointing, but unsurprising since preferred school is oversubscribed. Went on waiting list for preferred school.

ANYWAY... (sorry for long story history!)

I got a letter yesterday saying that we had been offered a place in preferred school! I was SO SO SO happy I screamed.
Until DH pointed out that the letter was redirected from old house X.
The LEA didn't have our new address.
I informed the council but didn't realise the LEA was a separate 'entity' as it were.

I feel sick. I mean, I actually feel physically ill. I don't know what to do. Accept the place and change address with the school once we start, or tell the LEA we aren't at that address and lose the place we wanted?

We WERE at house X when we applied. I THOUGHT I had done the right thing by notifying the council. But now I am so worried that if I am honest and correct it now that I know my mistake, I will lose a place we so desperately wanted.
Can anyone offer advice? Please be kind - I was naive and I feel like an idiot already, I don't need to be flamed :(

If you advised them of the new address then it is their error hun. They cannot take that place away from you if they've made a cock up. I didn't get ANY of my 3 schools and have ended up with a school where 'the scum of the earth' attend. Check your admissions rulings - It should state that in the councils error they cannot take the place off of you x

Julesbrown - It is not that clear cut. The OP informed the LA (not clear which department) but not the admissions team. Depending on what it says in their admission arrangements the LA may be able to argue that she had to tell the admissions team of her new address rather than relying on other departments to pass the information on. However, I think it is a potentially winnable appeal if the LA do try to take the place away.

You could ask the LA why the letter was send to your old address and not the new one. Say you have informed the Council and the LA about the change of addresses by sending two separate letters. When did you receive the letter to you old house? If that was a long time ago the LA would question why you are making queries now. You could of course say that because of redirection you did not pay attention the letter was send to your old home. I think you did mentioned about it on this thread.
You did inform the council about your new address so do not think LA will have many questions if any. Letters do get lost for many reasons.
Check the letter again and see if it has your old address in it. In this case you would not be able to say you did not notice the address.

Just to confirm what PRH has said a couple of times, if the LA remove the place because they used the old address and believe that they were not told about the new address then the OP can go to appeal over it.

If the appealant can prove in writing that they had actually informed the LA, albeit not the admissions office, it is for the appeal panel to balance the strength of the two arguements. I have been on at least two panels where there was clear documentary evidence that the LA as a whole was well aware of the change of address, though not directly to the admission office. In both cases the panel considered that the LA had been informed and allocated a place at the school. I think in both cases they were also Infant Class Size Regs cases and therefore were admitted as excepted pupils for the year.

Yes it is a risk to be totally honest, but it is also a risk not to be totally honest.

Hi All

Well today the situation has all been resolved. I wanted to post an update as I received so much advice and support and didn't want to disappear without feedback!

I decided to 'come clean'. I could handle the lie, I was stressed and upset and really screwed up about the whole thing.
So...I called the council last week to ask for info about DC's school, and of course they asked me to confirm my address.
I gave them my new one, and obviously it didn't match what they had.

They went on at that point to treat me like a bit of a criminal and I explained the situation to them in exactly the same way as I did my OP. They were not at all happy and said they needed to investigate me, check out our file in full and would call me back.

The following day I had heard nothing so I called them, and they were waiting for the head of admissions to decide whether or not we were entitled to any school place, let alone our one of preference.

Today, they called back and said that no, under normal circumstances we should not get the place... but they believed the error was partly theirs in them not checking their own council records, and that I had not acted fraudulently.

Based on that, they have allowed us to legitimately keep our place at the good school.

Obviously, I am over the moon, and as many said, to tell them was a risk, and to not tell them was a risk... but I can't tell you all how happy I am to have the school we wanted, completely above board. I have to change address with the school when we start, but should they decide to check me out further, I'm clear.

This weekend, I'm off shopping for uniforms!

Thank you all for your support, advice and wisdom. I am often too honest for my own good and it gets me in all sorts of strife, but I found it very validating to know that every now and again, honesty does pay off :)

I've just read this thread - I'm really pleased for you! It must be such a weight off your mind.

Wow, you were bloody lucky.

I'm really pleased it worked out for you.

Lurked on your thread before - I'm so glad it all worked for you and well done for coming clean - it takes guts to do that!

Well done! I'm really pleased for you.

Well done - I am so pleased it worked out! I said they would be on dodgy ground trying to say they didn't know of your change of address. They obviously agree.