A 'cheat' school teacher who altered his students' work has been banned from teaching.
John Wiseman, a computing teacher at Calderstones School, was found to have made "extensive and significant modifications" to pupils' work before submitting it to the exam board.
The 47-year-old, who had been employed as a teacher at the school in Allerton for 17 years, admitted to altering several of his students' coursework on November 5, 2018.
In a report released by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) he admitted his actions "amounted to unacceptable professional conduct" that may bring his profession into "disrepute".
Concerns were raised at the school after a sample of Mr Wiseman’s pupils' work had been submitted for inspection.
It was alleged that on November 5, 2018, he had altered one or more of his pupils’ coursework before transferring the files to the school’s server.
The school started a disciplinary investigation and Mr Wiseman was suspended a week later. He resigned from his role at the school on February 8, 2019.
After investigations were completed, he was barred from all involvement in examinations and assessments for four years.
During the investigation, the teacher admitted to altering 27 out of the 28 coursework files for eight pupils he had taught.
The report states that Mr Wiseman admitted to altering the coursework as he was concerned the marks he had previously awarded may have been "overly generous."
The investigation concluded that Mr Wiseman’s conduct had "clearly been dishonest by the objective standards of ordinary decent people".
In making their decision, the panel took into consideration Mr Wiseman’s general good character.
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Several character witnesses provided glowing character references for the teacher, with one stating: "I can genuinely say that in all my years at school and in fact outside my professional role I have met few people as genuine and caring as John Wiseman."
However, this did not dissuade the investigations panel from the fact that the teacher had "acted dishonestly and without integrity."
It was agreed that what the teacher he had done "was effectively a form of cheating which was extremely serious".
The decision was made by the TRA to ban Mr Wiseman from teaching indefinitely at any school, sixth form college, or relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.
He will be able to apply for a review of the decision into whether the prohibition order can be removed in two years time.
