Primary head quits amid row on cheating
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A primary school headteacher has resigned after his pupils' results in maths and science tests were quashed amid allegations of cheating.
David Hopkins has left Whiteknights School in Wokingham, Berkshire, after an investigation confirmed that the strict rules governing the running of the tests had been broken. His departure came after a council education inspector discovered "problems" earlier this month during a visit to the school. In particular, there were concerns that pupils had been allowed to change their answers after the tests should have ended.
The inspector alerted the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Government's exam watchdog that runs the tests, which immediately began an investigation.
The QCA concluded that the rules had been breached, making the school's results unreliable and annulled the maths and science test scores of the school's 61 11-year-olds.
The children's English scores were not affected and neither were the test scores of the school's seven-year-old pupils, the council stressed.
Wokingham LEA and the QCA refused to comment on the "irregularities" uncovered in their investigations, which were only completed yesterday.
Tony Biggin, chairman of the school's governors, said: "We are all very concerned at the situation, but I am confident that as a whole school community we can work through the present difficulties together."
Andy Roberts, Wokingham's director of education, said: "We expect high standards of probity from all who work in public service – regrettably, those standards have not been maintained on this occasion."
Last summer, 11 schools had results in at least one subject quashed after the QCA upheld allegations of cheating.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments