Ossett Academy: Wakefield drama teacher escapes ban despite admitting to 'falsifying' pupil coursework

Michelle Holmes, formerly Head of Performing Arts at Ossett Academy in Wakefield, was accused of “unacceptable professional conduct” and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute by a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel.

The TRA professional teacher misconduct panel heard that Mrs Holmes had “falsified coursework”, belonging to Year 11 GCSE pupils and submitted the falsified work to the relevant exam board.

The official report said: “Mrs Holmes accepted she had made changes to spelling, grammar and formatting in all submitted work and that the content of the final submissions for twelve of the thirteen pupils differed from the original work completed by the pupils.

“It was accepted that one of the thirteen entries was not changed beyond formatting and spelling. It was further accepted by Mrs Holmes that four of the thirteen entries were significantly altered by rephrasing, re-paragraphing and that additional content was added.”

Ahead of the misconduct panel hearing, the report said that Mrs Holmes admitted the facts of the allegations, and that “her conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute”.

The statement of agreed facts also stated that Mrs Holmes altered the coursework as the pupils were “at risk of failing the course.”

The panel heard that Mrs Holmes stated that she was not directed by anyone to make changes to the pupils’ work but “felt pressure because of AIM meetings etcetera, where I've been told that historically my results were poor.”

Mrs Holmes confirmed during a school investigation that she had made the changes to the pupils’ work and “accepted that some of the changes were significant.” She subsequently resigned from her post at the school on August 31, 2023.

The TRA report said: “The panel was of the view that Mrs Holmes was remorseful and expressed a great deal of insight in respect of her misconduct. The panel noted that Mrs Holmes had reflected on her actions and had expressed regret for her conduct.”

The panel also noted that that Mrs Holmes had a “previously good history, having demonstrated high standards in both her personal and professional conduct.”

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As a result, despite the findings of unacceptable professional conduct, the misconduct panel ultimately ruled against issuing a prohibition order.

The report added: “In this case, I have placed considerable weight on the panel’s comments that ‘the nature and severity of the behaviour were at the less serious end of the possible spectrum’ and that there were mitigating factors.

“I have also placed considerable weight on the panel’s finding that Mrs Holmes had shown insight and remorse. For these reasons, I have concluded that a prohibition order is not proportionate or in the public interest.”

Ossett Academy have been approached for comment.