Admissions cheating - fake addresses

[Bobbalina]

My child is in a feeder school for an oversubscribed secondary school.

Lots of kids are like mine in that they are out of catchment for the primary and accordingly will be out of catchment for the secondary school.

All the ones who live further away from school than me have said that they will be cheating on the admissions form by supplying grandparents' addresses or renting in catchment on short term lets, so I think it will be my child who is the one who has to go to a different school without her friends.

Should I just suck it up?

It is quite possible and even likely that if there is a scramble for places, the school will check out addresses.

Certainly people are running that risk. I wouldn't use a fake address etc. People do it but it doesn't make it OK and you could well be found out.

Don't know much about this personally as DC1 and 2 went private. However, have recently started thinking about state school for DC3 near our UK home (we are currently working abroad but are thinking of returning to UK to get her settled in at a local school). DH spoke to the LA a few weeks ago about the process of applying and they said that they get a list of children in the area that are registered at the local doctors. I've heard that a lot of people do try to fiddle the system by giving a false/relatives address but surely they don't all change doctors?

I can understand you being pi**ed off with this going on, I certainly would be.

There's an oversubscribed secondary near me where the headmaster actually visits addresses to make sure no-one's cheating... not a risk I'd run but then I'm in the fortunate position of having several good secondaries to choose from.

Make an anonymous tip-off, they are breaking the law.

These families are actually going to a fair bit of effort to deceive the LEA, probably enough that they will get away with it imo. Its not fair play, but I'm not sure I can do anything except suck it up and feel about it and sad for my dd who will almost definitely now end up in a different school from her friends.

Am trying to stay positive about it but it does seem unfair.

Secondary school could always check with the primaries to see if everyone has suddenly moved house I suppose.
Bear it in mind if you have to go to appeal.

I'm wondering if schools actually do spend time and money bothering to investigate cases or if most folk just get away quite easily with bending the rules!

That's why Brighton's lottery system developed, no way to rig the outcome.

The fact is that people are caught cheating every year and loose the school place offered. Most schools that are oversubscribed do check out some of the more obvious questionable addresses. Typically this will involve calling at the stated address in the evening to see what is happening. There is also the obvious checks on addresses held by the school against that submitted on the application form.

It is not illegal to rent providing that it is for a reasonable length of time (6 months is the most usual figure) and that it is plain that the family is actually living at the address.

I anonymously tipped off the LEA about someone I knew was using a faking address. Their child got in to the school, and mine didn't. I knew their name and address, and the fake address though, so I was able give specific details. I'm not sure what you can do if you haven't got any definate information to give to the LEA.

The LEA did investigate, and the offer of a place for their child was withdrawn. My child still hasn't got a place at the school, but I'm glad I did it. It's just not fair, and it's not right.

Anyone giving a fake address risks losing any place that is offered to them. That is one of the few valid reasons for withdrawing an offer once it has been made.

Yes, some people will use false addresses and get away with it. I would inform the LA of your suspicions.

My LA want details of all moves 2 years prior to people submitting their CAF and supply a list of proof that they must show depending on whether they have bought or rented a property.

I think most LA's are on the ball and certainly just supplying a grandparents address is not sufficient. There are several checks LAs should be making to ensure people are where they say they are. Those renting may get away with more, especially if they are actually living there.

If it transpires people get a place whom you know are out of catchment I would inform your LA, even if you only have the child's name they could probably check it out.

3 families in my dc's yr 6 class "moved" this year for school application purposes. 2 of them have not yet managed to tidy their (old) houses sufficiently to put them on the market and both of them are beginning to think it may have been a mistake to move as their children are missing their old friends and after school activities etc. No-one is expecting them to renew their 6 month rental agreements once their dc's have started.

The third had their place withdrawn because the LEA did not believe that the move was genuine - the difficult for this family was that they also needed to apply for a reception place for a younger child so needed a different address for that application to ensure success. They achieved this by a separation - the father and eldest child "moved" to the secondary school area and the mother and younger child stayed in the original family home.

Gosh there is a helluva lot of dodgy dealings going on.

Glad to see that at least a few are picked up by the LEA but I suppose a lot still manage to get away with it

DS2 is in yr4 (DS1 hopefully will go to a different school) of a feeder for a popular comp and we're already getting comments

We live a few minutes away but geta sked if we are thinking about moving away, or even if ds2 (dyspraxia, but no delays or even provision of any kind) would really benefit from such a good school whereas their child might

In actuality, should we lose our rented house (I pray not) we would move to a different catchment area in all likelihood, so ds4 could attend the primary ds3 attends the SNU at, but it's None Of Their Business.

it's not even that good a school. I know a lady who works there and a survey there showed that 90% of the kids get private tutoring (posh intake)- school itself is bog avewrage

If popele were breaking rules to get in above us would I tell? Hell yeah, my job is to sort my kids, not suck it up and spend the next 6 years commuting outside the village! Why should I be less prepared to fight for mine than other parents?

Quite a co-incidence if they have grandpaents who actually live nearer the school!

Just tell them you wish you had the bottle to do that, but you don't think you'd be able to carry it off when they visit people who have suspiciously apeared to move a few hundred metres, and you wouldn't be able to face the very real possibility that your child would be removed from the playground in the first few weeks of term - and then wish them luck!

Both these things happen in our area.

Well I would defnitiely feel a bit uneasy about potentially grassing up other parents, but I suppose in effect they are prepared to do the dirty on me by jumping the queue.

It's a bit of a nightmare tbh