Why the biggest school cheats are the parents
... because as they bravely admit here, they’ll lie, bend the rules and even pretend to be separated to get their little darlings into the school they crave
KATIE HARRIS admits she was ‘ ready for a fight’. removing her wedding and engagement rings, the 43- year- old marketing executive tucked them in her handbag and marched up the steps of her local council headquarters in Derby.
Thankfully, this respectable mother- oftwo was not preparing for a physical brawl. The removal of her rings was all part of an elaborate ruse.
For although Katie was — and still is — happily married to John, a sales director who’s also 43, she was prepared to say that her marriage was on the rocks.
How else would she explain why she and her two boys, then aged 11 and eight, lived at an entirely different address to her husband: an address that just happened to be in the catchment area of the ‘school of her dreams’?
‘I was shaking with nerves and sweating when I went into that meeting, but I was ready for a fight,’ says Katie.
‘When John and I realised we lived only four doors outside the catchment area of the school we wanted our children to go to, we were gutted. so we came up with a plan.
We borrowed £50,000 from my mum and took out another mortgage on a small terrace house for £106,000 a few streets away, within the catchment area.
‘We’d spend one or two nights a week there, practically camping out on the floor and ordering takeaway food. But I was always terrified of being found out, especially before my eldest got his place at the school. Once he was in, I relaxed a little, but when the council picked up on the fact that we were using a new address, I was asked to prove that we lived there.
‘We’d bought the place legitimately, so I had all the documentation — bills, mortgage details, council tax — but at the last minute, I decided to take my rings off just in case they questioned why John and I owned two homes. I was going to lie and say my marriage had failed and we were living apart.
‘As it turned out, the documents were proof enough. I knew I was bending the rules and people would say I was stealing a place from another child, but the truth is, I didn’t give a stuff. I wanted my children in that school and, I’m sorry, but nothing was going to stop me.’
Illegal? No. Although a local authority can withdraw a school place if they suspect that the parents have acted fraudulently (there were 284 cases in 2016).
But unethical? Absolutely. After all, Katie and John had used their money and education to cheat the system and possibly deny a completely legitimate application.
But this middle- class school fraud is rife. Almost a third of professional parents admit they know someone who has used dubious means to get their children into a better school, according to a recent report from The sutton Trust, an educational charity which works to combat educational inequality.
Whether it’s the notorious tactic of suddenly attending church to get a place in a religious school, or the flagrant renting of a second home in the middle of a catchment area, parents are using a variety of tactics to beat the system.
And who can blame them? As parents scrambled to meet the October deadline for applying for secondary places, research suggests the competition is higher than ever.
One in six children will miss out on their first choice due to a surge in applications, and as the competition becomes fierce, dirty tactics are inevitable. ‘Parents from all backgrounds and walks of life want to do the best for their children,’ says sir Peter Lampl, founder of The sutton Trust.
‘Those with money, education and confidence are more able to give their children the best possible chance of succeeding. Middle-class and professional parents gain an advantage for their children at every turn.’
Katie and John, who have been together for 15 years, certainly went the extra mile — or as it turned out 435ft — to secure a place at their favoured secondary school.
They know feelings run high on the subject, and even with both boys settled into the school, they are still paranoid about them being kicked out. Consequently, we agreed not to reveal their real names.
‘When we moved into the area, we weren’t thinking about schools as we hadn’t had children,’ says Katie. ‘But it was such a popular school that the catchment area was small. I could see the street we needed to be living on to get into the school.
‘I’d heard horror stories about the other potential school, such as the classrooms having panic buttons, and I didn’t want my boys being a part of that. We thought about sending them to private school but that’s £10,000 a year in fees alone — each.
BUYING the other house crucified us financially because it meant two lots of council tax, two lots of bills, and two lots of cupboards to fill in case anyone checked whether we were living there.
‘I knew that if the council found out, my boys would have lost their places. I’d ring my solicitor, saying: “I’m terrified we’re going to get caught out,” but he’d reassure me because we legally owned it.
‘Both children have been in the school for a few years now, so I’ve just sold the terrace house to my sister, who is going to do the same thing for her children. My hairdresser has done something similar as well.’
sarah Haffner, 42 and a fundraiser, can empathise. she became one of a long line of parents in North London to rent a local ‘secret’ house so she could ensure places at an ‘outstanding’ primary school for her sons, now 11 and eight.
‘Around 18 months before we had to apply, we realised we had only a 50/50 chance of our eldest getting into the school we wanted, even though it was only 0.2 miles away,’ she says.
‘Friends told us about a house that was often rented out for a year or so at a time to parents who wanted to get their children into the school. It was an open secret among parents in the know. I’m a bit strait-laced and didn’t want to do anything underhand, but we went to see it anyway.
‘It was bigger than our family home but a bit of a wreck. The owners clearly hadn’t done anything to it for years because they hadn’t needed to. Parents were clamouring to rent it.
SOME friends said we were nuts, but we decided to go for it. On the morning the tenants gave notice, I walked into the estate agent with a cheque for a month’s deposit.
‘We rented out our own house to help pay the rent and negotiated a break clause in the two-year contract, knowing we probably wouldn’t be there that length of time.
‘It cost us, but it was cheaper than sending the boys to private school.
‘The school is so popular that we were interviewed at our new home about the application. But our son got in and we were delighted. It was definitely worth it.
‘We lived there for a year, but then my husband lost his job and we decided to move back to our old house. But not before I’d called the school and checked that it was OK to do so without risking our son’s place. They said it was fine to move.
‘Funnily enough, the people who had been renting our house then moved into the “secret” house as they also had young children.
‘It’s happening all over the place. We know of people who have used grandparents’ addresses or moved from miles away to get into a school.
‘I know people will criticise us for what we did, but I’m a big believer in creating opportunities for yourself and your children. We were in a position to be resourceful and so we made it happen.’
According to a report last month, analysis of birth data by The good schools guide found applications this year will be up around 25,000 on last year.
A baby boom fuelled by immigration a decade ago has meant a total of 607,000 pupils are expected to be vying for a place at a secondary school. Meanwhile, the report by 192. com said homes in a good catchment area are worth 38 per cent more than those outside the area.
One of those who ‘cheated’ the system is gemma Daniels, 33, who lives in Tameside, greater Manchester, but used her in-laws’ address to get her five-year- old son into the school of her choice last year.
‘Although there is a good school near our home, we didn’t want him to go there because it was a bit rough,’ says gemma.
‘We knew of another school near my mother-in-law, which is lovely. It’s a
religious school and, while we’re not religious at all, it’s got an outstanding ofsted report, a lovely community feel and my niece goes there, too.
‘It’s at least an hour away on public transport from where we live, but I was determined to get him into that school.’
when it came to application time Gemma, who works in human resources, used her mother-inlaw’s address in stockport because her house is well within the catchment area.
‘I asked her if she minded, and she was fine with it,’ says Gemma. ‘when we got the news to say he’d secured a place at the school, we were thrilled, but at the same time I was terrified I would be found out.
‘I knew it was wrong, but you take these risks for your children, don’t you? we’d been using the GP and the dentist in that area for over a year anyway — in preparation for any questions about living locally — but no one found out.
‘at first, when I didn’t know anyone at the school gate, I’d be vague about where we lived and would just say: “oh, I live up the road.” I was terrified of someone grassing me up.
‘I also felt bad for my son. he found it really confusing when anyone asked him where he lived, and he’d tell them, only for me to jump in saying: “no you don’t, you live in stockport.”
‘but by this point we didn’t want to risk being kicked out. My son had started at the school and we loved it.
‘the only awkward moment was when we went to a birthday party near our real house and one of the mothers from school was there. she said: “You haven’t just walked here, have you?” knowing that the school was miles away. I had to say that we’d just moved house.
‘I do feel guilty because the school is oversubscribed and every child deserves the best education. but a couple of the other mums I’ve confided in have all said they would do the same.
‘every parent wants the best for their child when it comes to education — and if that means being vague with the truth, then so be it.’
but where will it end? as cheating and lying become the norm among those with the knowhow to do it, what will happen to those left behind? surely there must be a fairer system for all?
‘this is happening everywhere and we call it the escalating arms race of education,’ says dr Lee elliot Major, ceo of the sutton trust and author of social Mobility and Its enemies.
‘ one of the proposals we suggest to combat this problem is the use of lotteries when it comes to school applications.
‘when you have a number of children who all fulfil the criteria for an oversubscribed school, every child could then have a fair chance.
‘another suggestion is a “banding” system, by which every child takes a test, then the school takes children from a mixed range of results — maybe the top 25 per cent, the bottom 25 per cent and the rest in between.
‘If something isn’t done, then all the best schools will be made up of the middle- classes, which isn’t helpful for social mobility, and children who come from poorer backgrounds will lose out.’
SOME names have been changed.