No ban for head who let pupils cheat in tests

A primary school headteacher was told yesterday he could carry on working even though he admitted encouraging his pupils to cheat in national curriculum tests.

The General Teaching Council for England found David Hopkins, 48, guilty of professional misconduct but decided against banning him from the profession and instead issued him with a reprimand, which will lie on his record for two years.

Mr Hopkins resigned as headteacher at Whiteknights Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, last year At a professional conduct committee of the GTC yesterday he admitted helping children to change their answers.

He said he had been under pressure to improve the school's position in league tables and wanted to allow the children to show their true abilities in the tests.

He admitted three counts of unprofessional conduct in the administration of science and maths national curriculum tests between 13 and 14 May last year. More than 600,000 11-year-olds are due to sit this summer's tests next week.

The hearing was told that Mr Hopkins had allowed some of his pupils to change their answers after last year's maths test. He also gave some children extra time to complete the science test and let pupils who had not yet finished the paper mix with others who had completed it.

He resigned after the scandal emerged. He now works as a teacher at Waverley School, an independent school in Wokingham, Berkshire.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Government agency that runs the tests, later annulled the results of Key Stage 2 maths and science tests taken by 61 pupils at Whiteknights School.

The hearing was hold 48 hours after headteachers discussed boycotting the tests because of the pressures their union claims they place on teachers and pupils.

The disciplinary committee found Mr Hopkins guilty of "unacceptable professional conduct", ruling he had committed a "serious breach of professional trust".

Judy Moorhouse, who chaired the committee, said it had taken Mr Hopkins' "onerous workload" into account and noted the "responsible and open way" in which he had conducted himself.

Giving evidence earlier, Mr Hopkins said he had been under enormous pressure to meet targets and that he suffered a number of exceptional problems including building works at the school, senior staff off sick and no caretaker.

"The pressures I was under and the excessive hours I was working at the time contributed to my actions.

"I never tried to hide my actions. The reason was so the children could achieve what I knew they were capable of."

In a statement, Mr Hopkins said he fully accepted the ruling but argued that his case highlighted the stress headteachers were under.