AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after allegations that SATS papers were tampered with at a Carlisle school.

It comes after parents of year 6 pupils at Cummersdale Primary School were informed about the matter at a meeting with the headteacher on Monday.

The pupils, who carried out their Key Stage Two SATS exams in May, were due to get their results on Tuesday, July 9.

A letter sent out to parents on Friday requested them to come to the school for a meeting.

Following the allegations, the Department for Education’s Standards and Testing Agency (STA), requested that an investigation be carried out by Cumbria County Council, but the authority found ‘no issues of concern’.

However, a further investigation by the STA is already underway.

Gareth Jones, headteacher at Cummersdale School, told the News & Star: “It goes without saying that we are taking this issue very seriously.

“Following an anonymous allegation the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) requested that the local authority conduct an investigation into the administration of our KS2 SATS.

“The local authority investigation found no issues of concern.

“However, the STA have informed us that they are undertaking further checks and we await their report.

“We are keeping parents informed of the situation and will continue to do so.

“This is highly unusual and we hope matters will be resolved quickly.”

In a statement, a spokesman from the Department for Education added: “Teachers and parents must have confidence in the integrity of the assessment system, which is why we take allegations of maladministration very seriously.

“Any instances of maladministration of the national curriculum assessments are completely unacceptable and any concerns regarding maladministration of national curriculum assessments should be reported to the Standards and Testing Agency for investigation.

“We are aware of allegations of maladministration at Cummersdale Primary School but given this is an ongoing case, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.”