A teacher who amended students’ coursework before sending it off to exam board OCR has been banned from the profession.
John Wiseman taught at Calderstones School, in Liverpool, for over 17 years until his resignation in February 2019, following an investigation.
Several months before, on 5 November 2018, Mr Wiseman had been asked to submit the coursework of 15 students chosen by OCR as a moderation sample for the Creating Digital Graphics iMedia course.
Eight of the 15 students had been taught by Mr Wiseman, and he transferred their files on to the school server.
But a few days later, concerns were raised about the coursework he had uploaded.
An investigation was launched by the school and then by OCR, which referred Mr Wiseman to the Teaching Regulation Agency.
Mr Wiseman admitted to allegations that he had altered 27 out of the 28 files he uploaded for his eight students.
Teacher made ‘extensive and significant’ modifications to coursework
Comparing the original files, saved by another individual, to the files that Mr Wiseman uploaded to the server, the panel found that “extensive and significant” modifications had been made, and that these could have affected the students’ grades.
The alterations included: rephrasing statements, inserting new paragraphs or text, deleting text, inserting or deleting images, making amendments to tables, rewording and reformatting.
Mr Wiseman told the panel that he amended the coursework as he was concerned that the marks he had previously awarded to the coursework may have been too generous.
Although the panel had received evidence of Mr Wiseman’s ability as a teacher, and noted that there was “strong evidence” that his conduct in this instance was completely out of character and an aberration, it also considered that, as a teacher of 17 years, “he would have been aware…that his actions had been wholly unprofessional and wrong”.
According to the panel, Mr Wiseman understood the gravity of his actions, and the panel found his remorse “to be both genuine and sincere”.
He will be able to apply for the ban to be lifted in two years’ time.
