School admissions fraud article

[CarlaJones]

I thought people might be interested in this article about school admissions "detectives" catching out people cheating the system and there's also going to be a Panorama programme about it that's mentioned in the article.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34014556

I don't know what PAN is

and another article on the smae subject

And another article on the same subject:-

schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-facing-extra-pressures-to-curb-school-admission-cheats/

You still did 100% the right thing. In theory the people who could appeal on that grounds won't know - but at our school this type of news travels fast, although mainly through the school nursery network. The really sad bit is that sometimes people decide to report fraud quite late on, after appeals have been heard. The child that lost out on 16th April may not then get the place that should have been theirs. It's still vital to report to stop others.

The really sad bit is that sometimes people decide to report fraud quite late on, after appeals have been heard

That doesn't matter. The deadline for appeals is purely for administrative convenience. If someone appeals late their case must still be heard. And if they have appealed already they can argue that the new information constitutes a change of circumstances justifying a fresh hearing.

We moved recently, bought a property and I applied for a place in the local primary schools (years 4 and 6) and the closest to us is 0.4 miles. It is a good school, not overrated, but ok. We have been waiting for 2 months and still not firm response from the LA. We have been asked to provide closing bills for council tax, electricity, tenancy agreement (we are renting our old house). The LA police (if any available) is more than welcome to come and see that we have refurbished the house and it is now looking like brand new and the cupboards/wardrobes are full with our clothes etc. - so indeed, we live in the new house, with the address provided on the application form. They can see meals in the fridge, laundry etc.
We still have not heard from them as they promised and 1st September is next week. I do not know whether we are on the waiting list, or what exactly is happening. DH and I phoned 3 times and the answer was - we will contact you. They do not provide any information about spaces/waiting lists etc.
We met a lady who lives next to our house and is a teacher in this school, so even if they contact her she can confirm our residency at the address.

Although this situation is extremely stressful and annoying! The LA have to make sure with the government that there are enough spaces for the children in the local schools. It could take months until we get a space!

To be fair vanilla in your other thread you have said that the the LEA has told you there are no vacancies as your kids' current school is only 3 miles away so you're not exactly without a school.....

Am I correct in thinking Viluntary Aided religious schools, C of E, RC etc. are their own admissions authority and this cannot be removed by the LA? Lots of religious schools are in this category and applications for admission go directly to them. Can a LA change this? I did not think so.

Oops. Voluntary Aided.

Am I correct in thinking Voluntary Aided religious schools, C of E, RC etc. are their own admissions authority and this cannot be removed by the LA

Yes, that is correct. Academies and free schools are also their own admission authority.

Lots of religious schools are in this category and applications for admission go directly to them

That is not correct. For the normal admissions round applications go to the LA. For in-year admissions applications it is up to the LA whether applications go to them or to the school.

When a school is its own admission authority it means they can set their own admission criteria. Also in the normal admissions round they will be sent a list of applicants to place in order using their admission criteria. It does not allow them to opt out of the LA's co-ordinated admissions scheme.

titchy, the old school was 3 miles away and in another borough. I have de-registered DC from it, so yes, DC are without school at present.

How would the system work for people who own a property but decide to rent it out in order to move in to a catchment area with the genuine intention of residing in the catchment area for the minimum period of time? (Is there a minimum amount of time, or are you supposed to live in the catchment area for the entire time the child attends the school?) if you were upfront with the admissions team about your intention to do this, what could they do, given it is within the rules?

This isn't me, btw, I'm just curious - surely there must be a lot of people who would be prepared and able to move to a catchment legitimately but rent out their old house, especially in London.

if you were upfront with the admissions team about your intention to do this, what could they do, given it is within the rules

It isn't within the rules. What you describe is classed as admissions fraud. Many LAs will simply ignore the catchment area address and use the address of the property the parents own unless it is miles away. Even if they manage to get a place at their preferred school, as soon as they move back to the home they own the LA would be entitled to regard this as fraud and take the place away, even if the child has already started at school.

If the parents were up front with the admissions team about their plans I would expect the admissions team to use the address of the house the parents own.

Whether renting your main home out and renting another close to a school is classed as fraud depends on whether it's specifically prohibited under the admissions rules. In our LEA you just need to provide evidence of how your former home is used and if it's been rented out then it isn't your main home any more and the LEA will ignore it for admissions purposes. So you can get away with renting out your home and renting another one close to your preferred school. That's how locally we've ended up with 120 intake primary school with a catchment of 0.3 of a mile.

Whether renting your main home out and renting another close to a school is classed as fraud depends on whether it's specifically prohibited under the admissions rules

That is not true. The admission rules set by the LA don't have to specifically prohibit this behaviour.

Some LAs will accept a rented address from someone who still owns a property in the area provided the property is either uninhabitable or rented on a long lease, and provided the rented address is also on a long lease. It is also true that some LAs are hotter than others on detecting and dealing with fraudulent applications. But using a temporary address in order to get a place at your preferred school is always against the rules.

How does the checking of council tax work?
The reason I ask is that I had a different surname to my DC and now husband up until a year ago. The council tax is in husbands name but I did the school applications in my then maiden name.
If the council tax was checked then yes a person with the same surname as my DC lived at the address but it doesn't necessarily mean my DC live there if we were separated iyswim.
Also how would that work if my DC had my surname and the council tax was under husbands name.

Can I also just say that even though my DC go to an out of catchment school we didn't cheat to get them in!

using a temporary address in order to get a place at your preferred school is always against the rules

The problem for the LEAs is that although a temporary arrangement to secure a school place is against the rules it's difficult to show that renting out your main home and renting another close to your preferred school is in fact a temporary arrangement. Tenancies are mostly for 12 months with a break after 6 months so even if you did plan to rent close to the school long term you'd still be on a 12 month tenancy. It's fraud in my view but people do it and get away with it and it our area at least it means local kids can't get into their local schools.

Amazed that anyone gets away with this - today I have filled in a form for our local authority re secondary admission. We moved in December (genuine move not for schools) The letter i have just sent off has 15 supporting documents to prove we have moved out of the old house and now live in the new one - maybe my borough is more strict than others?
If they all require this much stuff when you move house I don't see how people do it.

That's why many LAs just have a blanket ban on applying from a rented address if you own another property. They don't need to prove whether it is temporary or not. They just won't accept the application.

There was a poster that fell foul of this in March/April. The LA just wrote them a letter saying they wouldn't accept the address they used and were using the property they owned.

This is a genuine question, so apologies if this sounds dense, but how does the LA know whether you rent or own? Does the form ask? If I go from paying CT on an owned flat to CT on a rented flat, surely the CT records are identical?

They have access to Land Registry information so they know if you own the property or not.

Thank you, makes sense!