When a boy known only as pupil A sat his physics, biology and chemistry exams in March 2021, teacher Adam Lowery had provided the year 11 student with the answers in advance, a teacher regulation agency was told yesterday . Mr Lowery, a former professional judo athlete, admitted the allegations relating to his conduct while working at Rainford High School three years ago.
The hearing was told how Mr Lowery, a former assistant headteacher at another school, had been employed at Rainford since September 2019. In March 2021, pupil A, sat three internal exams that were intended to inform his final GCSE grades owing to formal testing being postponed due to covid-19. Concerns were first raised by three teachers independently who identified pupil A’s exam marks as “extraordinarily high” and answers were similar to those within the documents made available to staff only. Richard Spedding, the school’s head of physics, brought the matter to the attention of leadership.
It transpired later that Mr Lowery had in fact given pupil A a pack and told him how to answer the questions. It was said the former teacher - who resigned in May 2021 - initially lied as he was “terrified” of the situation. Pupil A’s results on the three tests were ultimately disregarded for his final GCSE mark.