Suspended examiners apologise

Paul Evans, of WJEC – the Welsh exam board – and Steph Warren, of Edexcel, told MPs they regretted “inappropriate” comments made to undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph.

They said, however, that they had not revealed details of questions set to be included in upcoming exams.

Another examiner, Paul Barnes of WJEC, said he had been “misrepresented” by the newspaper and denied breaking any rules.

All three have been suspended while investigations take place.

The three made their statements as the House of Commons Education Committee took evidence following the paper’s sting.

Edexcel representatives said they were “deeply concerned” about the revelations, and “systems and processes” were being strengthened.

But AQA and OCR defended their safeguards and WJEC said it was satisfied no exams had been compromised.

Chief examiners Mr Evans and Mr Barnes were filmed conducting a seminar for the WJEC GCSE history course in November.

Mr Evans reportedly spoke about the “cycle” of questions used by the board.

“We’re cheating, we’re telling you the cycle,” he said.

A teacher asked whether they had understood correctly that there would be no question on Iraq or Iran next year. Mr Barnes said: “Off the record, yes.”

Speaking to MPs at the hearing, Mr Evans said the seminar was designed to “inform teachers about the course, take them through the lessons learned from the results of examinations in the past, with a view to assisting their teaching in teaching their pupils for future exams.

“My reference to the word cheating was an inappropriate term to use,” he said.

Ms Warren was approached at another seminar by an undercover journalist from the newspaper posing as a teacher who was considering using Edexcel’s GCSE geography tests.

She reportedly told them that “you don’t have to teach a lot” and that there was a “lot less” for pupils to learn than with rival courses.

Giving evidence today, she said she did “not even recall the conversation”.

“I do not know why I made the comments. I have not read the other awarding bodies’ specifications or even Edexcel’s other geography specifications.

“So I have no basis on which to compare them. It was an inappropriate comment that I deeply regret making. I am only human and we all make mistakes.”