School place cheating 'a form of theft'
Updated on 02 November 2009
Parents who lie and cheat to get their children into popular schools should face tougher action, the chief schools adjudicator has warned. James Blake reports.
Chief Schools Adjudicator Dr Ian Craig has said parents who make fraudulent applications are denying other children their rightful place and called it "a form of theft".
But he distanced himself from the idea that they should be taken to court.
A report today examines the scale of parental cheating to get children into popular schools, and is expected to call for new rules on the allocation of places for twins.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls asked Dr Ian Craig to publish the paper ahead of claims that more parents are breaking the school admission rules than originally thought.
Dr Craig's also says that admission rules should be altered to ensure twins are allocated places at the same school.
Under the current system, each twin's application is dealt with separately by the local authority, which can mean they are split and sent to different primary schools.
Around 100 sets of twins in England are affected each year, according to the Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba).
Many more are allocated different primary schools, but their parents win an extra place at one school, either before or at appeal.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls asked Dr Craig to look into the issue earlier this year, saying the situation was "ridiculous".
Tamba chief executive Keith Reed said the problem was down to an "oversight" in the code.
"We have conducted our own research and what we have found is that around 100 sets of twins appear to be split up each year, which causes a number of practical, emotional and development problems for the twins involved.
"We are hoping that the report confirms that this is a problem that exists and recommends that it should be resolved by making amendments to the school admissions code."
And Dr Craig was asked to consider whether the use of lotteries to award school places is a fair way to allocate school places.
The lottery system has been used by around 25 local authorities but Mr Balls has previously said it should only be employed as a last resort.
Dr Craig's annual report, which covers the period from September last year to August, also contains a breakdown of the cases referred to the adjudicator, admissions arrangements and compliance of admissions arrangements referred to the adjudicator, as well as appeals.
The report comes just days after new government figures showed a sharp rise in the number of complaints about primary school admissions.
In total, 22,220 appeals over primary school places were made last year, compared to 17,380 the year before - an increase of almost 5,000.
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said: "We've toughened up the school admissions code significantly - to stamp out covert admission practices which used to penalise families and give every child a fair, equal and transparent chance to get into a school of their choice, regardless of their background.
"We've given the adjudicator far-reaching powers to deal with breaches of the code and send out a clear message that all admission authorities must comply - no ifs or buts."
The author John O'Farrell who is also chair of governors at the London comprehensive, Lambeth Academy and Rachel Wolf, director of the New Schools Network, which promotes independent schools within the state sector, joined Jon Snow.
