Teacher banned from profession after giving GCSE students answers day before exam
Lisa Horton warned kids not to tell their parents she had helped them cheat for the exam as it would cost her job
A TEACHER has been banned after giving GCSE pupils the questions before an exam.
Lisa Horton, 43, warned students not to tell their parents and said it would “cost me my job”.
One pupil said science teacher Horton “gave us sheets with every question and told us to copy”.
Horton was also found to have given pupils extra time to finish papers and put Post-it notes on completed sections with corrections to be made.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership panel found “peculiarities” in completed papers including “very similar, if not identical, answers”.
Horton, who worked at Darrick Wood School in Orpington, Kent, said the similarities were due to “meticulously teaching” the day before the exam.
She also said pupils had access to a Powerpoint presentation prepared by a colleague, which they could have memorised or copied directly.
Horton claimed to have raised concerns via emails, but the tribunal found that these did not exist.
She was found guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct at the hearing in Coventry and banned from teaching.
Panel chair Marion May said: "By her actions, Mrs Horton undermined the integrity of the national examination system and jeopardised the reputation of the pupils and the school.
"Mrs Horton sought to conceal her wrongdoing by insisting pupils sign a declaration.
"Mrs Horton's actions resulted in the pupils themselves being caught up in the dishonesty and breach of guidelines with them having to copy answers and Mrs Horton coercing them to sign the declaration.
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"We have found that Mrs Horton's actions were deliberate, and have seen no evidence to suggest that she was acting under duress, and in fact we found the teacher's actions to be calculated and motivated.
"Accordingly, we make a recommendation to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect."
Horton will not be able to teach in schools, sixth form colleges, young accommodation, or children's homes in the UK. She will have to wait for a minimum of three years for the ban to be set aside.