Inquiry into 'cheating' school

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/7130317.stm

Version 0 of 1.

An inquiry has been launched after a school was stripped of its "Sats" test results amid allegations of cheating.

Springfield Community Primary in Hackney, east London, had its results for the national curriculum "Sats" tests taken by 11-year-olds quashed.

There were concerns about whether the pupils' answers in the tests were the children's own work.

A spokesman for Hackney Learning Trust said a disciplinary investigation was under way into what had happened.

The spokesman for the trust, which runs all the education services in the borough, said: "The Learning Trust takes this matter extremely seriously and is conducting an internal disciplinary investigation on behalf of the governing body."

Gain advantage

A spokesman for the National Assessment Agency (NAA), which is responsible for investigating such incidents, raised concerns over whether the pupils' answers in the tests represented the children's unaided work.

According to the NAA, annulment of results for a whole group of pupils can follow allegations of schools trying "to gain advantage for their pupils".

These cases can include claims that teachers knew what questions would be asked in the tests and tried to coach their pupils.

The annulment of results can also follow teachers "over-aiding pupils during the test" or making "changes to the pupils' scripts after the tests".

Spingfield was one of five primary schools across the country which had its results stripped due to malpractice.

National Association of Head Teachers general secretary Mick Brookes said incidents involving malpractice reflected "the extreme end" of the pressure that schools face to get results.