Tricking the system - how to manage the 'catchment' area?

[kajoh]

Hi parents and care givers,

We are currently renting and thinking of keeping it this way until DS1 is accepted to a good primary school. For the year of primary school application we are planing to move right across the street from a school that we picked as a primary school for our DS1. Ideally we would like to be in the catchment area 4 months before January 15th application deadline and to stay there until our DS1 starts the school in September.

Are there any other parents who secured a placement in a good primary school this way? Did it work out? How long have you stayed in the rented property? Anything you would do differently?

I know this might sound crazy to some people but given that for a nursery local authorities sent us to a nursery that is 3 miles away from where we live, I am not taking any chances with the primary school.

Thank you for your advice.

Kajoh,

If you did that locally, you would lose your place. All moves within the year before application and within c. the first year of school are investigated, and if they are found to be solely for the purpose of obtaining a school place, then you lose the place.

It used to be more possible than it is now to 'cheat' the system in this way, but most local authorities are now wise to this. Rental properties close to the school are often totally blacklisted - ie all applications from them are treated as fraudulent - and everyone has got much slicker at looking into e.g. trails of addresses, where you are registered to vote etc etc. Changing address within the first year of school also triggers investigations.

Just warning you.....

Good luck with this thread op.

But given that you rent anyway, what you're proposing doesn't sound so outrageous.

teacherwith2kids - Thank you, I had no idea. I am flexible to move in to a favorable location for longer than 2 years. I guess that as someone who rents a property I should have some sort of rights to a local school or is there also a preference for children of owner occupied properties?

quip - this is something that a headmaster of a local primary schools advised me to do. No joke.

As this is your first school application you may not be aware that cheating the system in the way you describe is a huge issue for popular schools and they are very switched on to it.

If the school is oversubscribed I'm amazed that you would be able to find a rental property across the street (have you actually found it yet?)

If you do go ahead with your plan you're going to have to be a bit more savvy to get away with it

Quip, I agree that it is less outrageous than the 'I own a house here but will rent a house there and just moive back' - but the consequences can be fairly similar if the intent is the same.

OP, if you REALLY want to do this:

• Move at least a year before application date.

• Make sure that the property that you rent matches your family - ie it should be a family home with sufficient space for all of your children, not a 1 bed or studio flat.

• Check with your council that it is not blacklisted ('I am moving to a house that is near a school,. I do realise that some unscrupulous people do this just to get a place, and so some properties cause problems. I am NOT doing this, but just wanted to check that address X is OK') Not 100% foolproof, mark you, but better than leaving it to chance and finding your application rejected.

• Move EVERY address. Bills, council tax, doctor, bank, everything. This is your permanent home.

• Do not move out until your child has completed their first year at school, and have a clear reason to do so - e.g. purchase of a house, better area for children, larger, etc - that is verifiable.

So this is a 2.5 year move, not a 6 month move.

Hi teacher, is what you describe true for secondary places as well? It is just that I am planning to move quite a distance (approx. 3 hrs away) and will need to rent so that when I find a house to buy I can look straight away.

Sorry, cross-posted.

The point is that renters do have a right to a place in the catchment that they live in - but not to obtaining one through fraud.

We moved into a rented house just before DD started school - but the clear reason behind the move was that DH had just obtained a job locally and our previous home was 40 miles away. Randomly moving from a perfectly decent family home rented 3 streets away to one just opposite a school would raise immediate suspicions if there are no other reasons that you might need to move...and I meant to add that - your inital move should be justifiable by some reason that is not solely school admission, be that closer to work, larger house for larger family, landlord giving you motice etc. Essentially it has to stand up to SERIOUS scrutiny from the admissions authority, as simply by moving you put yourself under suspicion.

Vryconfused, If you have a genuine reason to move - across the country for a new job, for example, then there should be absolutely no problem at all, as the reason for your move is wholly above board. It is moving solely for reasons of obtaining a school place that causes suspicion.

Do it OP.
Why should your PFB mix with 'them'
?

My guidance to the OP was ONLY to make a house move intended for the sole purpose of obtaining a school place slightly less likely to attract the charge of fraud and the removal of the school place. A house move across country for another reason, followed by a school application for a child who has moved with you should pose no problem at all - and if a query is raised, it can immediately be rebutted.

Why not just rent a house you like I'm an area you like?

popcorn anyone??

OP i have read enough threads on his topic to know that you should ignore anything a HT or teacher says to you about admissions. It has nothing to do with them and often they know bugger all about the local authority admissions systems and how they can catch you out.

Dont take any advice from anyone other than your local authority (or admissions prh47bridge and a couple of other admission experts on MN!!)

Go to your LA website and thoroughly read their admissions policy. We moved a week before the deadline closed but we were moving from ownership to ownership - not renting - so we were fine, although the nice lady from the LA did say that they would do extra checks but just to check that we had bought legitimately.

As we were in the process of moving we went through the policy with a fine tooth comb. Ours said that if we rented we needed to provide proof of a rental contract of a minimum 12 months, preferably 24 months IIRC

Personally i think that what you are doing will be transparent to the LA when it comes to admissions. I agree with teacher that you should move at least a year before the applications open.

(ahhh tiggytape - that was the other expert i was thinking of! )

Thank you for all for replies. I am expecting nothing else but smart school administration at the most popular schools. I would have to move any way soon. I have been looking at rental properties ads for my favorite locations and typically something comes up every 2/3 months.

This is very helpful. I had no idea that a property can be blacklisted.

Tiggy, my understanding is that locally, even a move A to B to C would come under suspicion if the move to B [the property near the school] is

• Closely tied in with application deadlines
• A move to a property smaller than the family needs
• A short term let
• Doesn't have EVERYTHING moved to it
• Has no clear rationale other than obtaining the school place

It doesn't lead to an automatic removal of the school place, but a very fine toothcomb is applied to any move that COULD, even potentially, be solely for school entry purposes.

Kajoh,

You have to bear in mind that schools do not handle admissions - they are handled at borough / council level, which is partly why they have the systems / resources to investigate in this way, and also why they have access to such a wide range of your records.

Someone at our school rented in the catchment area for school purposes. They moved in over a year prior to admissions and stayed there until the child was in yr1. They had a hiccup regarding their next child but eventually managed to get them into the same school.

All very complicated. But do-able if you really want.

So long as you are genuinely moving to the new house and staying there for a while (I think you are suggesting at least a year?) then there is no problem.

It isn't fraud to move house to be near a good school. Lots of people do it.

Rike, but it IS fraud - and is treated as fraud - if the move is solely to gain school admission and the mover moves out of the area once the school place is secured.

It ISN'T fraud if you move to near to a good school with every intention of living there and remaining part of the community. Which is why locally every attempt is made to investigate 'evidence of intent' around every potentially fraudulent move.