A vice-principal who submitted identical photocopied coursework for a number of students has been banned from teaching.

Andrew Grantham, who worked at Irlam and Cadishead College - a comprehensive school for 11- to 19-year-olds in Manchester - admitted a series of allegations relating to Year 11 BTEC Business Studies coursework last year.

They include:

• Failing to submit one or more pupils’ coursework by the required deadline.
• Copying the work of one or more pupils to use as the work of another pupil.
• Giving one or more pupils a “pass” or “merit” without marking their work.
• Asking or suggesting that someone lie or provide an inaccurate report to the headteacher.

A report by the Teaching Regulation Agency, published this week, says: “The panel felt that Mr Grantham knew that his actions were dishonest and as an experienced teacher of 24 years and now in a senior position as a vice-principal, he should have known what procedures should have been followed with regard to public examinations.

“The panel also had regard to the fact that Mr Grantham had attempted to conceal his actions by delaying providing the examination board with samples of the students’ work. He also attempted to evade providing Witness A with copies of the students’ work by stating it was at his home.”

The panel decided that the 48-year-old’s conduct “amounts to misconduct of a serious nature, which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.

The report says there was no evidence to suggest Mr Grantham was acting under duress, and found his actions to be “calculated”.

It did consider evidence in mitigation that Mr Graham’s representative said was a factor contributing to his behaviour, but details of this are redacted in the published report.

It says Mr Grantham “viewed his actions as ‘out of character to anything he had ever done’ and that he is ‘unable to reconcile the person he thought himself to be and the person that he felt ashamed of’”.

The panel heard the school was in special measures, which the panel felt “could have created challenging circumstances for a new member of staff”.

The report says: “The panel heard how this impacted Mr Grantham’s self-esteem and he started to believe ‘he was the worst teacher in the world’. The panel noted evidence that Mr Grantham felt he could not rely on others at the college for support and that the culture in terms of teamwork was not the same as at his previous school.”

A reference from his previous headteacher said he had an “unblemished 24-year teaching career” at that school.

Dawn Dandy, who made the final decision, approved the panel’s recommendation that Mr Grantham should be banned from teaching indefinitely, but he can apply for the prohibition to be set aside after three years.