Is this fraud and what to do.

[froggola]

Please no judgement. DH and I have been living apart for a couple of years but still together. Me and kids will move back into with him in September.
When applying for reception place I put his address as our main residence. I also didn’t say DS goes to nursery. As the nursery he goes to would prove that my house not in the borough is his main residence. I know that is wrong but I made the decision in a moment when filling in the form….Ds got offered a place and now school want a home visit. It’s feeling really stressful. What’s the plan? To go there and fake I already live there? Withdraw the application? It’s making me feel uneasy. I’d appreciate honest advice. I wasn’t intentionally deceitful, but I was. by omitting information and lying about my address. …which will be my address by September. If it makes any difference I’m on the deeds and have owned the house got a decade…

It was intentional though wasn’t it? Why didn’t you put your address and say you weee moving?

Just explain that you are moving there and that's why you put in for a place, and say they can come see you where you are now but you will be at other address in september

OP was probably unlikely to get the school she wanted from her actual address.
Sometimes people put a different address such as their ex's or a granparents to get a preferred school and then panic because they think they will be found out.

So she has lied then and is now panicking she will get found out? Her own fault then

I didn't say OP had done that
I just said that its not unknown for people to do it

Will you and DS be living full-time in the house you put on the application once he starts school ? If yes no fraud, if no then yep fraud.

His teacher won't care, nor have anything to do with admissions.

Look, you've done the wrong thing, but your reasons weren't typical. You and DS will be living there. His dad already lives there.

They want a home visit, though they can't force one. And they won't ask about the house. It's about getting to know him. They might ask, for example, what he likes to play with. Presumably he already has toys and a bed at dad's?

But if the OP has strictly followed the rules, she would have taken a place for her son, I'm a scum which he could not, and would not be attending. Another child who should have got that space wrong have, and has to go to a less convenient school instead.

I'd feel sorry for that hypothetical kid more than one who misses out because as child that will love in the area, and it's their local school, got in.

I guess I’m used to living in an area where schools aren’t oversubscribed so this is a non issue. Never had any problems getting DCs into local school of choice and neither has anyone I know. This all seems bonkers to me.

How do you even know the school is oversubscribed? Schools in my area aren’t. In fact they’ve had to go back to 1-form entry as there aren’t enough kids! Schools are desperate for kids.

And pretty sure the OP said she is moving to that address in the catchment for September - so she won’t be committing fraud either.
As the lady after my post said, she’s actually allowed to give either address.

I am going to assume that the people saying its fine don't work for OP's LEA so actually have no idea if she has done anything wrong or not.

🤣

As a teacher, who has actually done home visits for reception entry, I have never been there to uncover fraud. I've also never interrogated a child about their address. The point of a home visit is to get to know the kids before they come in. The teacher also has no idea of the application so they aren't going to uncover anything.

If the child's dad is living there he may have every right to apply there. Many local authorities let parents chose which address to apply from. So these kind of comments are nonsense.

To be clear, a few LAs allow parents to choose when care is shared 50/50 and a handful with other splits. Most go with whoever has the majority of care or whoever receives Child Benefit.

This. We don't know which LA is involved, so no-one here has any idea whether OP has broken the rules.

Exactly. Each area is different and in some areas this would not be ok, regardless of who owns the house or when the child will be moving there. In some areas, what OP has done IS fraud so those saying "it's fine" don't know that for sure. Just because it's fine in some areas to provide a future address, doesn't mean it is everywhere. OP may be ok, or they may not be. Where I live you would definitely have to submit the child's main place of residence at the time of application. Failing to do so may stop another child who actually lives closer at the time of application from getting the place they're entitled to, and that's not ok. The fact his Dad lived there wouldn't count unless it was his main residence.

Hopefully for OP, everything will work out fine as they're either in an area where submitting the Dad's address, or a future address, is seen as ok, or the school isn't oversubscribed so nobody missed out because of this deceit. She did ask if it is fraud though, so those answering yes it is, because it would be in their area, aren't necessarily wrong. It just depends where OP lives.

OP really needs to research this based on their LA rules to see where they stand.

Exactly so no one here is any position to judge if she has been fraudulent or not. But ultimately, unless it is a very oversubscribed school, it's unlikely the school or local authority will ever find out.

Are you from an area with significantly over subscribed admissions? Why don’t you know the admission rules?

It is not nonsense. The secondary where I work does it routinely and the primary my children went to. For 11 applicants to every space they have no choice. There is a huge issue with admissions fraud across the city.

Exactly this! In areas where there are significant issues with admissions fraud there are clear published rules.

We don’t know for sure, but given the OP’s own concerns and the fact that she left her son’s current nursery (near her rental) off the form deliberately, I feel the odds are that her LA doesn’t allow either parent, regardless of split of care, to put down the address.

I believe every area publishes rules, regardless of prevalence of fraudulent applications

Seriously, have a day off 😅

Indeed they do. It’s a requirement. And for areas where there are high rates of admissions fraud checks are undertaken. Look it up. It’s a known thing. Home visits are a very easy way to check fraud. My personal favourite two years ago was a family renting a studio flat which someone had deliberately purchased to let for that reason. There’s also cases of people renting their address. It is a thing. And home visits due to this are also a thing. Just because you’re not from a school that’s facing this issue doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

Oh that omission is the give away.

From what exactly? Genuine question. I'd like to know what I've said that makes you so compelled to respond with comments like that, that literally add nothing to the thread. What exactly have I said that bothers you much?