Wendy Lewis
Introduction
Wendy Lewis is a former Teacher of Food Technology and Art and SENDCo at St Dunstan’s School in Glastonbury who was banned from teaching after admitting that she helped pupils cheat during their AQA GCSE Art and Design non-exam assessment and then told them the extra time was because of “strike days” and “bank holidays” — which she knew to be untrue. Lewis, 59, admitted the allegations and resigned during the school’s disciplinary investigation in August 2023. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found her conduct dishonest and amounted to unacceptable professional conduct, and she was prohibited from teaching with a two-year review period.
Background Information
The events took place between 26 and 28 April 2023, during the supervised non-exam assessment element of the AQA GCSE Art and Design (Fine Art) qualification at St Dunstan’s School. The exam board’s rules are strict: students must not add to or amend work produced during supervised time once the ten hours of supervised time is complete, and portfolios must not leave the classroom. Lewis resigned from her position on 27 August 2023, following an internal disciplinary investigation into her conduct during that assessment window. The case then moved to the Teaching Regulation Agency.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Admitted, adjudicated. Lewis admitted the allegations, including dishonesty; the panel found the dishonest act clearly particularised on one limb, treated the others as proven rule-breaking without a separate dishonesty finding, and weighed whether to adjourn for re-particularisation before deciding not to.
Across the three days, the panel found, Lewis offered pupils verbal advice and drawing assistance during their assessment, told pupils they could take their portfolios and assessment material out of the classroom to work on at home that evening, gave pupils additional time after the assessed time had finished, and told them the extra time was due to “strike days” and/or “bank holidays” which she knew was not true. One pupil told the panel she said: “If you have any unfinished work that you need to get done … I am going to leave the room and I think you know what I mean” — before leaving the room. Each finding rested on Lewis’s own admissions and the consistent evidence of the pupils involved.
The dishonesty analysis was unusually detailed. Applying the two-stage test from Ivey v Genting Casinos, the panel accepted Lewis had admitted dishonesty on every particular, but was concerned that four of the five allegations did not clearly set out the dishonest act alleged — the rule-breaking was clear, the dishonesty itself was not. Only the false “strike days”/“bank holidays” explanation was clearly particularised, and on that limb the panel found the dishonesty proved on her admission. The panel considered adjourning so the TRA could re-draft the allegations, but declined: the case concerned the first half of 2023, the admissions were extensive, and Lewis had indicated she wanted the proceedings concluded.
On sanction, the panel noted the Advice on prohibition lists behaviours that would push against a review period, and that the only potentially relevant factor — fraud or serious dishonesty — was present in a limited form: the dishonesty was “confined within a short time period and appeared to be a lapse rather than a prolonged course of conduct”. It concluded a two-year review period struck the appropriate balance between Lewis’s rights and the public interest. The decision maker agreed, citing “the dishonesty found, the lack of evidence of full insight and the risk of repetition” as the elements requiring a two-year review to maintain public confidence.
Public Reaction and Consequences
No criminal proceedings were reported; the consequences were professional and regulatory. Lewis resigned on 27 August 2023 during the school’s disciplinary investigation, and the TRA panel subsequently found the proven facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, breaching the Teachers’ Standards. The assessment-integrity dimension gave the case a public face beyond an ordinary misconduct case: exam-board regulations exist to guarantee that graded work is the pupil’s own, and the panel found she had deliberately broken them across multiple pupils and multiple days, then invented a public-events explanation to cover it.
Current Status
Lewis is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. She may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 23 December 2027 — two years from the date of the order. The application is not automatic: a panel would meet to consider whether the ban should be lifted, and without a successful application she remains prohibited indefinitely. Decision maker Marc Cavey acted for the Secretary of State on 17 December 2025. The determination is dated 16 December 2025 and the outcome was published on 9 January 2026. She has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days; no appeal was reported.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Lewis’s career ended at the point where her two roles converged: the art teacher who supervised the art assessment and the SENDCo responsible for vulnerable pupils’ welfare presided over a cheating session, then lied about why the timetable had stretched. The panel’s characterisation of the dishonesty as a lapse rather than a course of conduct is what saved her from a longer ban or a no-review order — but the two-year wait means the earliest she can argue for a return to any classroom in England is the week before Christmas 2027, and the dishonesty finding will follow her into that hearing.