A head of admissions at a prominent grammar school has adopted a hands-on investigative approach to identify parents attempting to secure school places through fraudulent addresses. Greg Fairchild, admissions chief at the historic Reading School in Berkshire, has begun personally visiting addresses suspected of being used improperly to gain an advantage in the competitive admissions process.
Reading School, a state grammar school for boys founded in the 12th century, receives approximately 1,300 applications annually for its 150 available places. Fairchild expressed concern that the practice of using "addresses of convenience" has escalated, particularly as schools like Reading tighten their admissions procedures to prioritize genuine local candidates.
Fairchild described his investigative method, which involves driving through the local area to verify the residency of applicants. In some cases, he has encountered situations where individuals claim to reside at an address but deny knowing any child by the applicant's name. He explained that these addresses may be used by landlords who receive mail there, or by family members such as aunts.
"You knock on the front door and ask to see the ten-year-old boy and they say 'No, there's no child that lives here'," Fairchild stated. "You ask about the name and it turns out they are the tenant and the landlord has never lived there, but the landlord gets their post delivered there so they can use the address as an address of convenience."
He noted that before a recent half-term break, he dedicated an entire day to visiting addresses believed to be fraudulent. By analyzing historical admissions data, Fairchild has identified a list of suspicious addresses to investigate. He claims to have found numerous instances of individuals using addresses outside the school's catchment area, with applicants residing miles away.
Fairchild warned that identifying fraudulent applications after students have already settled into the school makes it more difficult to revoke places based on parental misconduct. He also highlighted the issue of "test tourism," where parents from across the UK apply, potentially skewing admissions data and increasing administrative costs for the school. He believes these practices corrupt the admissions process, diverting resources and attention from serving the local community.
"The admissions process is being corrupted, whether maliciously with fraudulent addresses or malignantly with test tourism, when we should be focusing all our resources on our local community," Fairchild said. He contends that these issues give ammunition to those opposed to the grammar school system.