Nearly one in four parents have bent the rules or "played the system" to get their child into a good school, a survey has found.
Parents are breaking school admissions criteria to avoid paying an average £82,960 premium on homes in the catchment area of a high-performing school, according to Zoopla.
Around 17% of parents said they lied, bent or broke admissions rules to try to get their child into a good school, while a further 7% said they played the system to their advantage.
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Among those who flouted the rules, 16% said they made a "voluntary donation" to the school before a place was confirmed and 5% said they offered a bribe, according to the survey of 1,000 parents of children aged between four and 16 across the UK.
The findings come ahead of primary school application deadline day this week.
Among the parents who admitted to bending the rules or playing the system, 27% said they exaggerated their religious affiliation or attended religious services in order to get into a faith school.
Meanwhile, more than a fifth (21%) said they registered their child at a family member's address that was closer to their preferred school, one in 10 lied about their home address, and 8% said they temporarily rented a second home within the catchment area.
Daniel Copley, a consumer expert at Zoopla, said: "We were blown away by the figures showing just how many parents are going to extreme lengths to get their kids into the preferred school, which suggests the practice is endemic to the application process and widespread across the country.
"While the premium on a property in the catchment area of a popular local school might appear steep, we know that many homeowners have far more equity tied up in their home than they realise, which could make a move into a good catchment area a possibility."
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "It is depressing to hear that a significant minority of parents resort to bending admissions rules to obtain places in certain schools, and a sign of the intense competition which sometimes exists around school places.
"The survey points out that this takes different forms, but in respect of its finding on 'bribes' such as parents offering donations to a school, we would like to make it very clear that schools are not susceptible to such inducement and that attendance criteria is scrupulously applied by admissions authorities.
"That aside, the wider issue here is the fact that competitive pressure for school places is often driven by Ofsted ratings with parents chasing places at schools with 'good' or 'outstanding' ratings.
"The Government needs to put a much greater focus on improving the level of support it offers to schools which face the greatest challenges so that every family has access to a good local school and there is much less pressure over school places."
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We are committed to delivering high-quality school places for children and families wherever they live and have announced nearly £500m to provide the places needed for 2023.
"The number of good or outstanding schools has increased significantly, from 68% in 2010 to 86% in March 2021, so parents across the country can be confident their child will get the high-quality education they deserve.
"It is for admission authorities to allocate school places fairly and in strict accordance with the school's admissions criteria."
