Proof of address for primary school admissions

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Hello! We've applied for our son to begin reception year in September 2024. This is a very technical question, hoping someone might have some insight. As our proof of address, we gave our council tax info which apparently will be sufficient. But they also ask for proof that the child lives with you, and for that you need a child benefit letter (which we don't have) or two of: GP letter, dentist, hospital, optician, or health record book (red book).

The problem is, our son was born abroad, so we don't have a red book. We do have a GP letter, but then we'd also need a letter from a dentist, hospital or optician. Our son has no current need for any of these things. We could make an appointment for a check-up at a private dentist and get a letter, but it's strange they'd consider that as "proof of address" since you could just give them any address, it's not like a dentist will verify it.

Anyway, how strict are they with these things? I feel like council tax and GP letter should be enough, but who knows? Any insights appreciated!

PS. We're in Islington, if that makes a difference, and our first choice (we're .1 miles away) is William Tyndale. Confusingly, their documentation says that proof of address will be requested by the school, not by the council, after a place is given. 😕

It’s very unlikely that you’ll be penalised in any way. If your borough need that information, they will contact you to ask for it. I live in Barnet and they didn’t request proof that my child lives at my address with me.

Is your child not registered with a GP or dentist? It's a bit odd that a 4yo hasn't been to the dentist isn't it?

Does he have a bank/savings account?

Why is the registered at your dentist?

Your child should be seeing a dentist for regular checkups anyway so register and get the letter there.

🙄 Why isn't he registered at your dentist?

Re: dentist, I should have clarified - we only moved to the UK this past autumn. Before that we were in Spain where he had a dentist and got most of his vaccines etc.

Those are just examples. Do you have a funding letter for nursery, nhs card ?

I would submit what you have. If they need more proof then they will ask and give you time to reply they won’t immediately refund the offer (unless you were clearly lying!). You could take your child for a free eye test.

Just ring the admissions team and ask!

Although you could give the dentist any address, they aren't using the dentist letter to prove the actual address, they are using it to show that he lives with you. If the child lives with mum and dad together they might not want further evidence. It is to stop you claiming that the child lives elsewhere to gain a place in a preferred school unfairly.

Although my borough didn’t request this information, I did try get proof just in case. When I downloaded a bank statement from my daughter’s account, it had my name instead and was just labelled as a Child Savings Account. That was with Barclays.

Right, but when you registered at the dentist, why didn't you register your child?

No vaccination letters from the NHS? Are you registered for Gov tax free childcare, perhaps a letter from the Gov that you get confirming this would be sufficient - you get correspondence online into your account.

And yes, call up your dentist and register your son as well.

WT is one of the most sought-after primaries in London so I'd be very tight with gathering all the evidence you can tbh. Are you eligible to claim child benefit? Even if you are over the earnings threshold you can make a claim and opt not to receive any money (or opt to receive the money then repay later). It would be a more "official" proof as it comes from HMRC which I guess is why they only ask for one piece of documentation if that is the one you have. Seems a hassle but the council will be particularly eagle-eyed over applications for that school as it's in high demand.

Amy documentation in connection with your immigrating? Anything that names the child and the address?

If you are all registered at the GP they'll be able to provide something.

If you have his birth certificate, then individual proof of address (this address) for both parents this may work in place of it.

On Monday call your local admissions team and explain the circumstances.

Are you employed and collecting child benefit or credits for state pension? HMRC should have the information and should have provided a letter.

Our CC uses GIS to map door-to-door from school to home. Council tax bill is acceptable proof. All schools are overbooked, so catchment isn't even guarantee of a spot where I am. A ton of families moved here during lockdown and the number of places haven't caught up.

Anyways, you should be reading the documentation supplied by Islington and not asking online as it will be crystal clear. My CC supplied a 150-page PDF where everything was outlined. Also, the data from previous years was supplied and where I am .1 miles is somewhat far from a school (we have 6 infants within 400m). For example the distance cut off for selection is often 0.1 to 0.2 miles.

You could register your child for child benefit even if you or partner earn too much to receive payments. If you are not working or a low earner it affords you ni credits towards pensionable years.

This is the correct advice. Even over earning limit, you should be banking the time credits, especially if you have other nationalities and/or might move/retire elsewhere. I think the earnings limit is £60k/per person but even between £50k-£60k the benefits outweighs the tax liability.

The big advantage is time served if you move somewhere which a time-based agreement with the UK.

No reason to not do it, in essence.

This is great thank you, didn't really know about the Child Benefit - I think that should do the trick for us.