CHEATING parents are conning headteachers and forcing children as young as four to lie in a desperate bid to get into top state schools.

Some unscrupulous mothers and fathers forge documents, threaten unjustified lawsuits and use fictitious addresses to snatch coveted places.

The M.E.N. today (Thursday) exposes the astonishing lengths these parents go to - and we show how their sneaky tactics are depriving deserving children of genuine places.

AS the deadline for applications approaches, competition is so intense for league-leading schools across Greater Manchester that parents routinely pretend to live within a catchment area.

Some use relatives' addresses, while others use properties which are derelict.

Teachers and estate agents tell of well-heeled parents fiddling the system by taking short-term lets in the catchment area of sought-after secondary schools to guarantee their kids get in.

And out findings show that despite checks by the local education authorities, man still manage to con their way into getting accepted.

One mother admitted she set up temporary home at her father's address fro a planned visit by a headteacher and made sure her four-year-old son was briefed to pretend he lived their permanently.

Some of the tactics are particularly nasty. The head of admissions for Manchester's top state girls' school says some parents whose lies are uncovered then threaten her, screaming abuse, after being turned down for a place.

And the head of a Trafford primary admitted things were so bad he made late-night spot checks at suspicious homes.

Checks

As one of only three all-girl schools in south Manchester, and with a top league position, competition for places at the Whalley Range Girls' School is fierce.

Pastoral manager Jane Ralphson said when the admissions list is full, parents must go to a local authority appeal to try to get a place.

"But it doesn't stop parents from trying every trick in the book to put pressure on us," she said.

"We've had people ranting and raving in reception, we've had aggressive threats of legal action, we've had people lying about being disabled, we've suspected them of forging documents - you wouldn't believe the things they will try."

She says parents often enlist their MPs to put pressure on the local education authority.

"One man who had moved to the area was furious because his child hadn't been given a place. He came into reception shouting and threatening us.

Cheats

"He managed to persuade his MP to send us a letter saying he was disabled and couldn't drive and it would be impossible for him to get his daughter to any other school. He won a place on appeal. We couldn't believe it because we had seen him driving away from school in a big estate car."

Steve Cole, head of Brooklands Primary, Sale, said stiff competition for places at his school meant he and his colleagues were often faced with bogus applications.

"We do all we can to make sure these people are found out because it's unfair to the people who have gone through all the correct channels to lose out because someone else has cheated," he said.

"It's not unusual for me or a couple of the governors to go round unannounced to an address we're not sure about at around 7pm."

He said it was common practice for estate agents to mention that a house is in the catchment area for Brooklands Primary.

The manager for Countrywide Residential Lettings in Didsbury, Alison Beavon, said they had known people to rent apartments simply to give them an address which qualified them for a school.

For some parents, discovering the best school is Catholic when they are not, is a minor obstacle.

One mother told us: "We always wanted our daughter to go the RC primary because it has such a good reputation and the ethos is something we agree with, even though we are not Catholic."

A teacher at an RC high school recalled being approached by a father determined to get his son a place. "The chap said 'Do you do crash courses on how to become a Catholic?' It was very amusing."

Should the catchment system be reviewed?

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