Catchment area cheat

Middle-class parents, who in rosier times would be sewing name tapes on the local prep school blazer, are instead optimising their chances of securing a place at their nearest top-rated state school. While a minority may be able to move to a house firmly within spitting distance of the school, others will remain further out in a catchment grey zone. Furthermore, parents who would have qualified in previous years are finding themselves a little too far away this year as a result of the wealthy blow-ins. 

Grammar schools lead the way when it comes to pressure for places in the UK’s best state schools, but it happens in comprehensives too. Popular schools see upwards of 10 applicants for every place. In some parts of the country, almost half of children are rejected from their preferred secondary school amid intense competition for the most sought-after places. It cannot be a surprise that there are some parents who try to bend the rules.

What cheating tactics are employed?

The most obvious recourse for those looking to circumvent the rules is to lie about where the child lives; their 'permanent address', as termed by most local authorities (LAs). Sometimes grandparents, other relations, or friends live closer to the desired school and so parents claim on their application that this is the address where the child lives. But schools and LAs are on the lookout for children who don't appear to be living where it was claimed. Council officials do spot checks at addresses and they also investigate families who revert back to their real home address soon after the child starts school.

Affluent parents may seek out a solution which, on the surface, seems slightly more legitimate but which can also be uncovered by the council's checks. Renting a property close to the school gates for a year or two takes considerable effort and financial outlay but may do the trick for parents determined enough. In fact, in parts of London with highly desirable comprehensive schools, there are rental properties on the market implicitly for this purpose. It is patently gaming the system and verging on deceitful but if the rental period is long enough for the family to brush away all but the most dogged finger-pointing and be afforded the benefit of the doubt, they may just get away with it.

What happens to those who are caught?

All LAs now make clear that if a child gains a place on the basis of false information, there's a risk that the child may be removed from the school.

LAs are certainly under no illusion about the breadth of the problem and are becoming more vigilant in their monitoring. Back in 2015, an investigation by the Local Government Association found that, of 31 councils surveyed, 77 per cent reported an increase in the number of parents found to be lying on school admissions application forms.

Why do admissions requirements differ so much?

Anomalies may have a variety of reasons, relating to school and parental policies:

• Church schools often give places to those living miles away who tick the correct faith-related boxes.

• Once the oldest child has a place, if the school has a 'sibling rule', families may move to a larger, cheaper house further away safe in the knowledge that younger bro or sis will get in without a problem.

• A selective or partially selective school may give places to bright buttons from a wide area.

We've got a fuller, more detailed description of the various processes found in English secondary schools.

There are a couple of elephants in the room when discussing catchment areas. One is that it's entirely possible to live within a school's catchment area and still not get a place at the school. It comes down to a numbers game. It's unusual but even if you live within catchment, there may be enough children who live closer to the school than you to fill up all the available places. The other is that catchment areas come in all shapes and sizes. They are rarely a nice circle with the school bang slap in the middle. The school nearest to your home may not be the one whose catchment area you fall into, so it's essential to check the maps or postcode lists provided by your LA.

True state school catchment areas – where a school prioritizes applicants from within a prescribed geographical area – are certainly not ubiquitous; London has very few of them. However, what many people mean by 'catchment area' or 'in catchment' comes from an understanding of a loosely defined area surrounding a school the inhabitants of which should feel confident of getting a school place. This loosely defined area comes from a number given by LAs usually published in their guide to primary or secondary school applications. The number is the furthest distance from school a successful applicant was living the previous year, who was admitted according to the distance criterion in the oversubscription criteria. If you manage to get your head around that, you will probably also appreciate that it is sometimes just shortened to 'last pupil admitted'. The figure changes every year as other demographics fluctuate but it can give you an idea as to your child's chances of getting a place. The 'last pupil admitted' number does not include the distance from school of successful applicants who were admitted under different criteria, such as those admitted under a sibling rule, 'looked after' children or children with an EHCP. With popular schools in urban areas, this number is famously as little as 0.2 miles... or even less... no more than a street or two away.

Finding a school's catchment area or 'last pupil admitted'

A catchment area (sometimes AKA 'priority admissions zone') ought to be available to view via a school or LA's website and should take the form of a boundary line on a map or a list of postcodes. And to find out your home's distance from a school's gates – bearing in mind this will not be identical to the method used by the LA – use the tool on Google Maps to measure distances.

For more help with choosing the right school for your child, go to our state school section for admissions information on primary, secondary, and sixth form.