A SOUTH Lakeland primary school named the sixth best performing in the country is to face an investigation after being accused of cheating in exams.

Capita has this week been asked to conduct a review into claims that SATs papers at Cartmel C of E Primary School were altered after exams had ended in both mental maths and spelling.

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“We are trying to find out what’s going on,” said school governor, the Rev Nick Devenish. 

“The investigation will tell us if there has been a deliberate attempt to change results. That’s what we’ve got to get to the bottom of - and who was involved.”

He said Capita, which does HR for schools, was contacted by governors on Tuesday and asked to look into the matter.

It is hoped the investigation will begin ‘as soon as possible’.

It comes after marks from the May exams were ‘annulled’ by the Government’s standards and testing agency (STA), after it found some pupils’ answers had been changed after the tests had finished.

"Once we have the outcome of the investigation we will take whatever action follows from it," said Mary Iveson, chair of the school's governors.

"We are very clear that the situation is totally unacceptable and we are very sorry that it has happened: it is an isolated occurrence.

"The school rightly has an excellent track record and we, both governors and staff, are committed to the best interests of the pupils in particular, and the school generally."

Mr Devenish explained he had been 'aware' there was an issue, because at the end of last term the school had still only had the results back from the reading exam.

However, the situation was not made clear until the end of last week.

The STA then revealed it had carried out its own investigation into the 'administration' of the 2014 Key Stage 2 tests.

"The decision was made to annul the mental arithmetic and spelling test results," said a spokesman for the agency.

“Any instances of maladministration that lead to the annulment or amendment of children's test results are completely unacceptable.”

It is believed the school's headteacher, Sarah Firth, has been off ill since the beginning of term.

But this week local people spoke out in support of the Aynsome Road school.

"It is one excellent school," said Ethel Wilson, whose grandson is in year five. "It's just as good as it was before. I haven't lost confidence in the staff in the slightest."

Teri Butler, from Lindale, whose son is in year five, echoed the feeling, saying: "I've got no worries at all.

"I'm quite happy with the school and the staff.

"I was surprised when I heard what had happened but I've got no concerns."

And Peter Unsworth, another parent, said: "It's a fantastic school. This is just a storm in a teacup.

"There'll be some changes to procedure, I would imagine, but hopefully they can just get on with what they were already doing, which is giving the kids a fantastic education."

Mr Devenish also said he felt 'confident' the school would be able to move forward.

“Although the changing of the SATs papers is totally wrong, the children concerned – and all our children at school – receive an excellent education, which is not diminished by this," he continued.

"We are grateful for all the support offered by the county and the diocese, and are confident that we shall get to the bottom of the matter and be able to move forward.”

In 2012 the school was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted and the headteacher was praised for having 'extremely high ambitions' for it.

According to the school's website, in 2013 it was judged to be the sixth best performing school in the country.

An inspection by the church also found it to be outstanding.

The Carlisle Diocese's director of education, Mike Mill, said this week he was 'very disappointed', and that additional support is now being provided to governors and staff.

But he added: "We believe that integrity and truth are central values of the Christian ethos in our schools - but so also are hope and the possibilities of restoration.”