Teacher who 'dishonestly' awarded grades banned

A teacher who amended the coursework of pupils and "dishonestly" awarded grades has been banned from the profession.

Tandy L'Enfant, worked as the lead teacher for health and social care at the Joseph Whitaker School in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, from September 2023.

A report published by the Teaching Regulation Agency said the school made a referral to the Cambridge OCR exam board about allegations of exam malpractice related to L'Enfant on 15 March 2024. It added from 15 March 2024 to 7 May 2025 she was absent due to a period of sick leave.

The panel considered L'Enfant's conduct affected a "significant number" of pupils across different year groups and exam courses, the report said.

The professional conduct panel hearing considered the case at a virtual hearing on 13 July in which L'Enfant did not attend and was not represented.

On 27 March 2024, the report said, the school commenced an internal investigation into allegations of exam malpractice L'Enfant - with a disciplinary hearing taking place on 7 May.

The school then referred L'Enfant to the Teaching Regulation Agency on 10 May 2024.

The panel found L'Enfant amended or added to pupils' coursework purporting it to be their own as well as awarding and submitting grades for pupils which the pupils' work did not support.

According to the Teaching Regulation Agency, L'Enfant also asked pupils to sign candidate authentication forms in advance of completing the work and without dating them, and submitted marks without securely retaining pupils' work until final grades had been received.

The panel stated L'Enfant submitted a written representation in which she expressed "remorse" and apologised to her pupils, the school community and the profession.

Her representation stated: "I deeply regret the decisions I made and the consequences that followed.

"Regardless of the circumstances I was experiencing at the time, I acknowledge that my actions fell below the professional standards expected of a teacher."

The report said the panel considered her conduct sought to "deliberately subvert the integrity" of a nationally accredited qualification.

"The misconduct involved deliberate conduct and findings of fraud and serious dishonesty.

"The actions were not isolated or momentary lapses of judgement. Rather, they occurred across more than one class, involved more than one examination process and continued over a period of time.

"The panel considered that such conduct strikes at the heart of the trust placed in teachers and undermines the integrity of educational assessment," it added.

L'Enfant was banned by the panel from teaching indefinitely, which means she cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 17 June 2031, five years from the date of this order at the earliest, it said.

Listen to BBC Radio Nottingham on Sounds and follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.