More than 40 families have been caught lying on application forms in order to get their child into a good school, new figures have revealed.

Underhand tactics to cheat the system include renting out properties near the county’s best schools but not living there, and moving in with or registering accounts at a relative's house.

But school bosses have told KentOnline although such practices are well known, they are powerless to stop all attempts as they cannot turn “private detective” or “stake out” homes.

Chief executive of multi-academy trust The Golden Thread Alliance, Garry Ratcliffe, said it has been part of the issue with families using phoney addresses but does investigate concerns as far as they can.

The organisation runs nine primary academies across Dartford and Gravesham but the application process for their reception intake is managed by Kent County Council (KCC).

The schools will rank applications on set criteria such as if the child is looked after, has a sibling at the school and the proximity to their address, before offering a place.

When applying, families must provide evidence of a permanent address such as the pupil’s birth certificate, passport, GP letter, bank statement or council tax bill.

It is the responsibility of the school to review this to make sure it is issuing places to the children who meet the criteria, however, it is not always easy.

Speaking to KentOnline, Mr Ratcliffe said: “We know that we have to make those checks as robust and stringent as they possibly can be so that we are being fair.

“However, I think the big challenge is the fact we are not private detectives. We cannot deploy staff to go and stake out a particular house to make sure a family lives there.

“We have to trust the word of applicants that they are providing the correct proof of address.

“It is a challenge that many schools are facing.”

KentOnline is regularly contacted by people who wish to expose others they think have lied about where they live to get their children into schools.

Mandip Shergill, of Hartley, is a parent whose son Joshua was one of 61 children in northwest Kent who missed out on a grammar school place despite being eligible.

One of the reasons he stated was because of the number of pupils from outside the county who were awarded a place ahead of local children.

However, he is also aware of parents using fake addresses to get in. He added: “It is totally unacceptable and wrong.

“It disgusts me that parents do this and think they can get away with it. It completely messes up the system and unjustly awards places to children who have been misrepresented.

“The other children whose applications are not approved miss out when in fact they could have genuinely and rightly secured a school place.”

A landlord of a property in the Dartford area, which is near some of the best state schools in the country, even claims they had more than 60 inquiries from people wishing to rent on a short-term basis to “flip the application”.

Speaking anonymously, they added: “They wanted me to rent the house, or offer the tenancy, which would be dated before the date cut-off for applications for the address.

“There is no way I would permit someone to carry out that scam and deprive a local child of a place.

“The parents think they are doing something good. They are teaching poor morals and standards, fraud and dishonesty.”

According to a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, 82 investigations led to 36 primary school places being withdrawn over the past three years by KCC due to fraudulent applications.

KCC acts on behalf of the community and voluntary controlled schools regarding address concerns so the data only reflects 181 primary schools.

Voluntary aided, free, academy and foundation schools conduct their own investigations.

Last year (2023), saw the highest number of investigations (35) with 18 places being consequently withdrawn, the majority of which were in Maidstone and Swale.

Council officers said this was due to people listing addresses they have never lived in, where they have moved and not told the local authority or used a relative’s address.

A KCC spokesperson explained the admission scheme is clear a child’s home address must be their main or only residence and either owned by their guardian or have a rental agreement of no less than 12 months when the application is submitted.

They added: “Each year KCC and schools actively investigate a number of cases where the address has been questioned by schools or other parties.

“This process is considered very seriously and if insufficient evidence is received, or the address used on the application is found to be incorrect for the admission process, the child’s school offer may be withdrawn and offered to the child who had been disadvantaged.”

An FOI to Medway Council revealed although they did not investigate any primary school places since 2020, secondary school spots have been contested.

In 2022, seven places were withdrawn following investigations into the proof of address.

Medway Council coordinates admission into 68 primary and 19 secondary schools.

For multi-academy trusts, Mr Ratcliffe explained head teachers will withdraw places if there is insufficient evidence.

He added: “I think it is really easy for parents to justify to themselves to push the rules to get their child into the school that they feel is the best for their child.

“I understand that every parent and career wants the best for their child, however, we need to consider the implications because there is nothing worse than being taken away from the school where you have begun to settle.

“Equally, it is incredibly unfair for those children living within the area who should be eligible for a place and are being prevented from taking up that place because of the deliberate actions of others.

“It is incredibly tough for parents and carers, but we as school leaders and head teachers have to make sure we follow the law and we are offering places fairly.”