An ICT teacher has been permanently barred from the profession after helping pupils to cheat in controlled assessments.
David Fitzgerald, 30, was a teacher at Greenacre Academy Trust in Kent. He joined the trust in July 2010 as an ICT teacher, before being appointed head of department in September 2015.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership found that, during the 2015-16 academic year, Mr Fitzgerald:
- “Provided improper assistance” to one or more pupils by commenting on or correcting work and sharing resources with pupils.
- Submitted marks to the examining board in respect of three students “which did not reflect” marks they would have obtained on their own.
- “Falsified work for” two pupils in a controlled assessment.
- Was “dishonest” in submitting higher marks and deliberately falsifying work.
- Attempted to “conceal” his actions by submitting information to exam boards without consulting with staff - and declaring to the OCR exam board that students had completed work they had not done.
Once Mr Fitzgerald’s colleagues’ suspicions were raised, the school told the OCR exam board that there had been some discrepancies in the Year 11 computing class results.
This led to a separate investigation that resulted in Mr Fitzgerald’s suspension on 25 May 2016.
The NCTL panel concluded that Mr Fitzgerald should be “prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England”. The teacher cannot ask for the decision to be reviewed.
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