THE former head teacher of Easton C of E Primary School, Bristol, Rehana Siraj-Allan, has been barred from teaching by a disciplinary panel of the National College for Teaching and Leadership.

At a hearing last month, the panel found proven the allegations that Mrs Siraj-Allan had amended pupils’ Key Stage 2 SATS papers in 2012. The panel was told that she had been successful in raising standards at Easton, "a tough inner-city school"; but she was under pressure because results had plateaued, and the school was at risk of being forced to become an academy.

The appointment of Mrs Siraj-Allan, who is a Muslim, to the headship of a C of E school, caused controversy when she was appointed in 2003, but church inspectors found that the school’s Christian ethos had been successfully maintained (News, 14 November 2003; Feature, 26 September 2006).