Teachers 'give pupils the questions before exams'

TEACHERS are under such pressure to deliver good exam grades that they are giving pupils the exam questions before they sit their GCSEs and A-Levels, claims The Daily Telegraph.
 
Last week the paper reported that examiners were passing on detailed information to teachers at "secretive seminars". The information allegedly included advance warning of those parts of the syllabus that would be assessed and the specific answers they were looking for to achieve good marks.
 
Now it seems stressed teachers are passing on that advice to their pupils.
 
The Telegraph says: "The information given to pupils is so detailed that earlier this year a teenager disclosed a forthcoming question for an A-level law exam on an internet bulletin board after his teacher had a meeting with an examiner."
 
Competition between the various exam boards has been blamed for the leaks, and the Telegraph claims to have been contacted by a number of "whistleblowers". It quotes a science teacher who alleges he was put under pressure to help his pupils. "Basically, it was said to us to cheat," he said.
 
The latest revelations come on the day that MPs question the heads of the country's main exam boards and senior figures from exam regulator Ofqual. The Commons' Education Committee will also hear from three examiners from WJEC, the Welsh exam board, and Edexcel, who were suspended after the first Telegraph report last week.
 
Yesterday WJEC insisted that its exams still had "integrity" after investigating claims that its examiners had given unfair advice to teachers. The BBC reported that it told pupils, parents and teachers that they could have "full confidence" in its work. ·