Zoopla research has found that as many as 28% of parents are “lying, bending rules or playing the system” to get their children into their preferred state schools. That’s up from 24% in 2022.

The most untruthful parents, though, are to be found in London at 38%, where competition for schools is at its highest. Next come East Midlands and Welsh parents (33%), although the most honest were in Yorkshire (17%).

Tricks

One of parents’ more common tricks is to register themselves at the home of a friend or family member in the catchment area of a good school (30%), which is up from 21% in 2022.

Another trick, as agents are only too aware, is to rent a temporary home in a given catchment area (9%), however unsuitable it might appear to be – although the Zoopla research doesn’t pin this on agents directly.

As was reported in The Neg a couple of years back, it is not a new phenomenon, but the increasing numbers are being blamed on the Government’s VAT raid on private schools.

Flouting the rules is even more endemic.”

12% of those parents questioned by Zoopla had previously educated their children in private schools but could no longer afford the fees.

Daniel Copley, Zoopla’s consumer expert, said: ‘In 2022, we were shocked at the number of parents going to extreme lengths to get their child into their desired school, so it is even more surprising to see that number increase.

‘It’s clear that the removal of VAT relief on private school fees is placing even more competition on school places, flouting the rules is even more endemic, no matter where you are in the country.’