Rise in families caught cheating for school places

THERE is growing evidence that more parents are lying about where they live in order to get their children into good schools.

In Richmond, 50 families were caught falsifying applications for places this year. Last year the figure was five.

Some councils have had to withdraw offers after investigators tried to visit families only to find their addresses were false.

One popular Twickenham secondary, Waldegrave School for Girls, accounted for 20 per cent of bogus applications in Richmond this year. The rest were attempts to get into primaries.

The details emerged as parents rushed to complete applications for next year's secondary places before Friday's deadline. The credit crunch is being blamed for increased demand for places at top state schools as parents seek alternatives to private education. Many oversubscribed schools give priority to families living nearest to them or within specified catchment areas. But applicants are trying a wide range of methods to beat the system.

These include pretending a child lives with a relative near the school; renting a flat inside the catchment area for a few months; and using a business address instead of a residential one.

Catchment-area cheating appears to be worst in areas with the most highly-rated state schools, such as Richmond, the best authority in England for primary results. The council's cabinet member for education, Malcolm Eady, said faking application forms was "despicable" behaviour. "We work extremely hard to check every single place and make sure the system works," he added. "We have to make sure this type of action is stamped out. It has got to be fair to our residents."

Waldegrave School recently received 753 applicants for 200 places. Ten were bogus.

An inquiry by the Local Government Association suggested a rise in catchment area cheating was taking place across England.

However, the situation is thought to be particularly severe in London, where competition for places is fierce. Barnet council withdrew two offers this year after parents managed to get through initial checks. Last year, there was no need for such action. In Redbridge, the local authority withdrew offers for six children and a number of other cheats were discovered before places were offered. A spokeswoman for Redbridge said: "We employ a residence officer who carries out visits to over 100 families per month, some of whom are visited more than once. Short-term leases are increasingly being used and we will revisit such addresses."

The Department for Children, Schools and Families urged councils to take a "hard line" with parents who cheat. "Every child should now have a fair, equal and transparent chance of getting into a school of their choice," a spokesman said.