Teacher helped pupils to cheat

A TEACHER has been reprimanded for helping pupils to cheat in exams.

Home economics teacher Heather Dixon breached Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) rules by rewriting assignments for pupils.

Mrs Dixon, who teaches at a high school in Argyll and Bute, also sent two pupils another student’s work and told them to copy parts of it.

The misconduct took place between February and May 2017, when pupils in her class were undertaking National 5 assessments in Health and Food Technology.

The pupils’ assignment work was considered by external SQA markers as being so similar that it referred the matter to the school for a candidate malpractice investigation.

Following a hearing in Edinburgh, the General Teaching Council for Scotland decided Mrs Dixon’s fitness to practise was impaired and that her actions were ‘dishonest’ and ‘lacked integrity’.

The panel rejected striking her off and instead imposed a reprimand and a two-year conditional registration order.