A business technology teacher has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct for submitting grades for pupils who were absent from his lessons at a secondary school.

The General Teaching Council decided that David Ducey had acted dishonestly by recording “unsubstantiated levels of attainment” for Year 9s at the Priory School and Sports College, Barnsley, between September 2006 and December 2007.

But the council’s professional conduct committee decided not to issue a disciplinary order. The judgment noted, in mitigation, that he had moved to a school with a very different culture from his previous teaching experience. “We have also noted that you were under significant pressure, which led you to provide such inaccurate assessment records,” it said.

“You were teaching a different subject from the one for which you were employed at Priory School. Also, you were teaching a significant proportion of your timetable to an age range of which you had little experience.”

The committee was satisfied that Mr Ducey had not acted to achieve unfair advantage for himself or pupils and had not damaged education at the school or misled any external assessment agency. ws.