Teacher banned from the profession after doing GCSE geography homework on behalf of a student

A teacher has been banned after school bosses discovered she was passing off her own work as a students.

Gillian Hardman, was found to have been completing GCSE geography work on behalf of one of her pupils.

Ms Hardman was also found to have told the special school where she was working that the pupil's work had been moderated before the submission deadline when it hadn't, and lied that the student had completed a past paper under exam conditions back in February 2021 when in fact she was working remotely from home.

The teacher was the subject of a three-day Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel hearing, which found her actions lacked integrity and were dishonest, and that she had also failed to store "the functional skills exam papers in accordance with the guidelines and had left them insecurely in an unlocked cupboard".The 40-year-old was employed as a teacher at Inscape House School in Cheadle - a special educational needs and disabilities school - with a number of the allegations relating to teacher assessed grades for GCSE geography during the 2020-21 academic year. The school carried out an investigation in June 2021 and invited her to attend a disciplinary hearing a month later. In August 2021, Ms Hardman resigned.

The report said that the panel were "satisfied" that in all probability two out of the three pieces of work submitted by Ms Hardman for the student's Geography GCSE had been completed by her and not the pupil. In all, five allegations were found proven.

She's now been banned from teaching indefinitely in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

A two-year review period as part of the order means Ms Hardman cannot apply to have the prohibition order removed until July 31, 2025, at the earliest.