Training Risky:
(BTW, I have a wife and 2 young kids, so I do not think I am totally out of touch!)
I don't see what point you are trying to make - is it that the LOA enables the couple to afford boarding school back in the UK? Surely the LOA is there to provide for the costs of living abroad?
(edited to add that that point has just been made).
You will only be in touch when your kids are on their fourth school in 5 years, are repeatedly treated as second class because they are 'temporary', go for a whole year and learn nothing (or even study Twelfth Night one year only to move to a new school and study Twelfth Night again). It's not just about education either, the social elements of a common group of friends is almost as important; I remember no 2 son at the age of 9 saying he was fed-up of having to make new friends every 5 minutes.
Two of my 3 children are at boarding school, the other at Uni now, but I reckon the true costs to us are about £1000 per child per term, albeit some of those costs are self induced by seeing them more often than the policy lunatics suggest is necessary. I have moved significant distances 11 times in 21 years, so I believe it's justified in my case, but I do think there are some who have kicked the arse out of it.
That said, there is a big difference between those who genuinely believe they will have to move and are commited to mobility (but end up not moving), and those who play the system, have roles and/or ranks that mean they really will not move for years at a time and simply use the CEA to get a better quality of education for their kids.
Having just gone through the CEA Certification Process (for the second time in 8 months), I can confirm that the rules are being tightened significantly. If JPA shows your First, Second and Third choices of area as
A_Portsmouth and your choice of areas specifically to be avoided as
A_The Rest of the UK, I think you may be on a sticky wicket.
What I haven't worked out though is at what point the failure to get CEA certified hits - does the child finish phase of education, or is your next application simply rejected? In the latter case, the failure to give a month's notice could leave me liable personally for about £15K !
STH
Edited Again to Add: By the way, how many people get away with not moving FQs on posting because their kids are approaching GCSEs, A-Levels or whatever and so block an FQ meaning someone has to go on SSFA? For a sqn ldr in teh London area, for example, the SSFA acceptable costs must be close to £2k per mth (they were £1.8k about 10 years ago!). That's far more than CEA for the same basic effect.