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Original poster

School catchment areas

36 replies

2ndtimemum9 · 14/03/2022 12:28

Hi all, was wondering if anyone had any advice for me. My house is currently on the market, we are waiting to sell and move to a certain school catchment area. My question is my parents live within the school catchment area, could we simply move in with them for a couple of months to get in the schools until our house sells and we find a suitable house in the area?

Thank you in advance for your responses Smile

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Duracellbunnywannabe · 14/03/2022 12:30

Nope. It will be seen a fraud and the school place maybe withdrawn.

QuizzicalEyebrows · 14/03/2022 12:33

Yes if you live with them then that will be your legal address

LizDoingTheCanCan · 14/03/2022 12:33

Will you declare your current house empty to your insurers? What if your house doesn't sell for a year?

Are you really going to move in with your parents?

TeenPlusCat · 14/03/2022 12:33

England? No you can't.
You could sell your house and rent in catchment whilst finding your preferred one to buy.

However, secondary applications are end October, and primary mid January so you have ages yet don't you?

Lazypuppy · 14/03/2022 12:33

You've already missed the initial deadline so even if you did this (don't, its fraud) you're child will likely have to be on waiting lists anyway.

TeenPlusCat · 14/03/2022 12:34

@QuizzicalEyebrows

Yes if you live with them then that will be your legal address
Not if they still own a house nearby it won't be.
MaizeAmaze · 14/03/2022 12:37

Move on with them, while you have an empty house a few miles down the road? No.

Sell your house, not yet have bought another, live with parents? Ok but you might get asked some questions.

Stroppypeople · 14/03/2022 12:37

Not sure about the legality but morally it is wrong. There is another family that will be effected if you do this !

BendingSpoons · 14/03/2022 13:20

You can sell your house and move in with then and that will be your address. You would need to work out how long you would need to stay. If you haven't sold your house, they may not accept it is a genuine move and still use your original address.

ConfusedaboutSchool · 14/03/2022 13:35

You'll need to sell your house not just have it on the market. After that, wherever you live will be your legal address and you can rent or stay with your parents as you wish as long as you don't have any other residence.

PatriciaHolm · 14/03/2022 14:08

It depends ;-)

Assuming this is an application for a normal year of entry (reception, year 7) - then;

  • If your parents live relatively close, it's likely that your current address would still be the one use for school applications, as many admissions authorities have strict rules about "addresses of convenience". You would need to sell the property, or at the very least rent it out on a year long contract at least - different admissions authorities have different rules on exactly what they require, and for how long. It would be best to talk to them explicitly about what they would require in order to consider the other property not available to you.
  • If your parents live a considerable distance from you now, then the admissions authority is likely to look more favourably, since you wouldn't have another address in their county.

If it's for another year for entry through the wait list, then things may be different - if there is no waiting list and space available then you must be given it, regardless of where you live. However you would probably be expected to take the place up asap, usually within a couple of weeks.

Makeitsoso · 14/03/2022 14:11

It depends… if you moved all your information, bank etc, packed up your stuff and only go to your house for selling/maintenance then I think it’s probably on the light side of grey. Schools try to scare people but if you have genuinely moved house then that is your address. The key thing is genuinely. How would you prove you had genuinely moved if your own house was sitting empty? I think that’s why it’s tricky. If you’d sold and were between houses it would be fully okay.

Makeitsoso · 14/03/2022 14:14

@Lazypuppy

You've already missed the initial deadline so even if you did this (don't, its fraud) you're child will likely have to be on waiting lists anyway.
I assume it’s for the following year.

In terms of another child missing out. Places are designed for children who live locally. If OP is going to buy a house locally then her children are these local children.
I wouldn’t be supportive if she intended to move back to her original address once she had a school place. That’s an entirely different senario.

A580Hojas · 14/03/2022 14:17

If your house is sold and you are living with your parents then I can't see why not. If that is your only address.

LIZS · 14/03/2022 14:25

Some councils will not accept an address(family, rental) where a property is simultaneously owned locally. You may also need to demonstrate it is the child's primary residence with child benefit letter, council tax bill, nhs card or similar. Proof of address requirements will be on the website

Original poster
2ndtimemum9 · 14/03/2022 15:22

My house will be sold. My little boy starts school next September so I need to apply by Jan. Yes we would live with them for as long as needed, as they live in a very large 5 bed house. So my thinking was it would technically be our address but wasn't sure how long you would have to live there for it to qualify as your permanent address. Hope that makes sense I'm very sleep deprived

OP posts:
TeenPlusCat · 14/03/2022 16:39

OP. Are you really asking 'if I sell my house and move in with my parents who are in the catchment for the school I want, how long will I have to stay there before buying a cheaper house out of catchment and still get the school place?'

If so you will need to look at your local admissions rules. You'll have to be there at time of application for definite.
Then possibly also still there at date of applications closure.
You'll need to be clear when giving them your new address after moving that you don't want your application address changed.
You may need to provide evidence of properly living at your parents, e.g. changing it with child benefit office, insurances, doctors etc.

This would be legal, provided you dispose of current house and do actually live with your parents.

HopefulProcrastinator · 14/03/2022 17:17

Check your LA rules.

In our LA if you obtain a school place at an oversubscribed school based on distance then move before the end of the first term outside of that distance then the school place will be revoked and awarded to the next child on the waiting list.

I've also seen children removed because they've fraudulently obtained a place by their parents 'fronting' an address.

Just make sure that you're working within the rules of your LA. Families move around all the time, but please don't manipulate the system to gain advantage over another family who doesn't have the luxury of a 5 bed 'temporary' home.

RafaIstheKingofClay · 14/03/2022 18:00

In our LA if you obtain a school place at an oversubscribed school based on distance then move before the end of the first term outside of that distance then the school place will be revoked and awarded to the next child on the waiting list.

Have you confused the LA’s ability to remove a place attained by fraud after the child has started with a general policy on all children who move between allocation day and the end of term 1?

If the op’s house is sold and she’s living with her parents on Jan 15th, then I’d think it unlikely any LA would view it as fraud as there is no other address she could possibly apply from. It gets a bit messier if she then moves into anew house between the submission deadline and allocation day.

TeenPlusCat · 14/03/2022 18:10

In our LA if you obtain a school place based on distance then move before the end of the first term outside of that distance then the school place will be revoked and awarded to the next child on the waiting list.

I'm not convinced that would be legal unless there was fraud. @prh47bridge ?

Takeachance18 · 14/03/2022 18:29

I have seen moves before starting for secondary Grammars (Dr Challoner), not so much for primary.

However, what happens if you can't find a school in catchment? How realistic is it to find a school in catchment- not all areas give non catchment siblings priority over catchment for any future children and admissions can change. How will you manage friendships, if you live further away? Have you visited the school to know it is the one you would choose for your child, not just on what you have been told/ how it was for you/ convenient for parents doing school pick up.

Soontobe60 · 14/03/2022 18:40

@2ndtimemum9

My house will be sold. My little boy starts school next September so I need to apply by Jan. Yes we would live with them for as long as needed, as they live in a very large 5 bed house. So my thinking was it would technically be our address but wasn't sure how long you would have to live there for it to qualify as your permanent address. Hope that makes sense I'm very sleep deprived
Er, permanently! You have to give YOUR address, not your parents address. Even if you actually rented a house in the area, if you still own your current house you can’t do it. Where schools are over subscribed and have small catchment areas, LAs are very switched on to parents behaving fraudulently as you’re suggesting. They cross check addresses with council tax for one thing.
prh47bridge · 14/03/2022 19:10

Agreed. An LA cannot withdraw a place just because the child has moved. The nearest they can get is if the application was fraudulent or deliberately misleading. If an LA does behave as described, it should be straightforward to get the withdrawn place reinstated at appeal. But some LAs really do push their luck on this. I remember attending a hearing with a parent where the LA tried to argue that a parent's forced move that happened months after the application meant her application was deliberately misleading. We won. I wonder if it is the same LA.

prh47bridge · 14/03/2022 19:11

Sorry - that was responding to @TeenPlusCat

NellyDElephant · 14/03/2022 19:18

I have an excellent example for this scenario.
A family sold their house miles away, different area, rented a holiday cottage, for two weeks, used that address as their ‘permanent’ address as it was approaching deadline for primary places and got their DC into the local village primary school on that basis. Then promptly moved into their new permanent house, which was out of catchment but nearby. When we, at school, challenged this, the LA said ‘this was permitted’
I’m still struggling to comprehend how this is ok, almost a year later!