HEADTEACHERS in the Epping Forest District have welcomed a Government report recommending tougher action on parents who lie to get their children into schools.

Schools adjudicator Ian Craig has said parents who commit fraud to register their children could be fined or even charged with perjury.

He suggested at least 3,500 cases of fraud happen each year and recommended the current system be tightened as currently parents have “nothing to lose” by lying on application forms.

His words have been welcomed by headteacher Peter Tidmarsh whose school, St John's in Buckhurst Hill High Road, is the most oversubscribed in Essex for the third year running with nearly 250 applications for 45 places.

He said: “Each year for the last five years we have rejected applications. It's a real problem. People are being creative with their addresses and it really displaces parents in Buckhurst Hill.

“We've come across people renting a flat for six months- that's fairly standard. We are looking at situations now where people have lived there for at least a year.

“We have had some people staying at friends and saying their marriage has failed and low and behold, as soon as the child is in, the marriage is back together. In the most extreme cases we've had people buying places.

“We are looking to Government to give us more powers. I think if there were more consequences for people it might make them think twice. It's very difficult because if the child starts there's a policy of not taking the place away. Some people are very brazen. They get a place and they say: 'That's good because I live in Woodford.'”

Mr Tidmarsh added his school used all sorts of methods to stop fraud and had even hired private investigators.

Over in Loughton, Davenant Foundation School, which has one of the best academic records in the county, received 400 applications this year for 160 places.

Headteacher Chris Seward admitted he too had seen cases of fraud.

He said: “Occasionally we find a situation where someone is using a different address from their main address. We then ensure a place isn't going to be offered.”

As Davenant is a Christian school with a religious admissions policy, Mr Seward added he had to employ stringent criteria to prevent parents from faking church attendance.

He said: “It's certainly the view of our governors that they want it to be a substantial period of time rather than people going to church for a few weeks.

“We require church attendance to go back at least seven years as we feel that conveys a substantial commitment to church.”

A second Government report has now been commissioned to look into the problem of fraud in school applications.