Primary school teachers who ‘unfairly improved’ assessment results are struck off

Headteacher Michael Watt, 44, and English teacher Emma Kelly, 29, worked together to help Year 6 pupils at Colburn Community Primary School gain a higher marks in a Key Stage 2 writing assignment in May 2018.

They then claimed the children had done the assesments independently.

Both teachers denied wrongdoing at a recent Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct hearing and claimed they were following the assessment guidance.

But the misconduct panel found they should be banned from the classroom indefinitely, because they had been dishonest and there was “a deliberate failure to adhere to the guidance”.

The pupils had read a novel called Holes by Louis Sachar and been asked to write a letter home to the main character's mother.

A TRA investigation found there were “significant and striking similarities” between the letters written by eight pupils and a letter written by Ms Kelly.

It came after Mr Watt emailed Ms Kelly about the pupils’ task and highlighted the letter which the main character Stanley writes to his mother in the novel.

The TRA said the paragraphs, phrasing, punctuation and vocabulary in the all the letters were notably similar.

The second paragraph written by one pupil stated: "Firstly, all of my mischievous camp mates are all dangerous criminals."

In Ms Kelly’s letter, she wrote: “I fear, in the harsh environment, I may die of dehydration. I have nothing with me: no equipment – nothing. I am desperate, and conscious that I need support immediately. Every muscle aches and my stomach is empty. What do you recommend?"

One pupil wrote: “I have: no water, no food or no equipment to protect myself. I'm desperate for help and I need support immediately. All of my muscles are throbbing and my stomach aches so I don’t want to think about it. What can you recommend?"

The final paragraph of all the letters also contained a number of words on the Year 5 and 6 National Curriculum list, including "environment", "dehydration", "equipment", "desperate", "conscious", "immediately", "muscle" and "stomach".

The pupils’ results for the assessment have since been annulled by the Standards and Testing Agency.

During the investigation, the TRA interviewed a number of pupils and one claimed that when they came up with her own ideas in class Miss Kelly would “sometimes tell me to stop and look at the example of the board and use that”.

In its rulings, the TRA said both teachers “could have personally gained” from unfairly improving assessment results, because this could lead to “financial gain, enhanced reputation and career progression”.

The rulings added: “There is an expectation that teachers do not tamper with pupil’s assessment outcomes and that such interference would amount to dishonesty.”

Ms Kelly and Mr Watt can apply for their teaching bans to be set aside in December 2026.