Renting temporarily in the priority area to sit extrance exam?

[dw4518]

A few of the top selective grammar schools in north London (DAO, Latymer) have "priority areas", meaning if you don't live in it you can't even sit the entrance exam. I happen to be right on the edge of it, by a few streets!

Problem is, how can I move to an area if I don't know if my child will do well enough in the exam to get a place? But not moving means we can't even sit the exam.

Is it possible to rent temporarily in the priority area, sit the exam, and then move permanently if we get in? Or is that akin to the crime that is catchment area rent cheating?!

I would expect that any school having to rely to setting boundaries just for setting the exams would also have in place procedures to excludes such plans as moving temporary just to be able to sit the exam. Have you read their 'application rules'? It must be stated somewhere whether this is acceptable or not.

If you only live a few streets away then why not just move? What difference will it make?

@ BertrandRussell

I don't want to go through the hassle and cost of moving unless I have to

Those are incredibly tough schools to get into. How confident are you of your child's ability before you to that hassle?
Are you out of catchment for both?

Latymer doesn't require you to reside in a specific area. Anyone can take the test, but priority in admissions is given to those living in the priority area on Jan 12. Given you would know whether your child was of the required standard by end Oct and the likelihood of getting a place, you would have 2 months to move.

Likewise, Dame Alice Owens requires the candidates are either resident in the local priority areas or educated in Islington, the latter having no residency requirements.

@ PatriciaHolm

Does this mean we will know the exam result before having to fulfil the residency criteria? That would make things a lot simpler!

Look on the elevenplusforum there are tons of threads about grammars that don't have catchments and/or you can move in catchment once you know the results. St Olaves has no catchment but it wouldn't be fair on the child to commute a long distance and competition is amazingly fierce. Some of the Kent Grammars are commutable to London (Dartford and Tonbridge), some it doesn't matter where you live but the score required might be higher if out of catchment, some move within catchment by a date in December so they still qualify and it isn't considered cheating but isn't exactly in the full spirit of the in-county / out-of-county concept. Bexley grammars mostly go on pass then distance but if you are in top 180 scorers you get a place regardless of distance and there is no requirement to live within borough prior to test.

thank you for the helpful reply!

For Latymer, yes, you would know the results before having to prove your address. There would still be no guarantee of a place of course so you would have to weigh up the options if you moved and didn't get in - where would you end up? Because at that point you will have had to apply for other schools by the end of October, using your existing address...