A former English teacher has been banned from the classroom after admitting he helped students cheat in their coursework.

John Spelacy spent 21 years teaching at Fakenham Academy before his resignation last year.

But he has now been banned from returning to the profession after admitting to giving AS and A-Level students too much help with their coursework.

The allegations came during the 2022-23 academic year and related to English Language and English Literature courses.

A misconduct panel heard that Mr Spelacy, 58, offered "improper assistance" to students, writing notes on coursework drafts which exceeded the level of support permitted by the exam board.

The panel's report also says this included "encouraging pupils to break examination rules and dishonestly changing and commenting upon pupil assessment".

In a statement provided to the Teaching Regulation Agency, Mr Spelacy gave a "clear and unequivocal" admission of the allegations in full.

However, he added that it had not occurred to him at the time that he was acting dishonestly.

The panel concluded that Mr Spelacy had fallen "significantly short of the standard behaviour expected of a teacher".

In his report, TRA decision maker David Oatley wrote: "There was no evidence that Mr Spelacy's conduct was not deliberate. The panel has found Mr Spelacy to have acted dishonestly."

The school is run by the Sapientia Education Trust, which began investigating Mr Spelacy in April 2023.

He resigned from his post on August 31 of that year.

A spokesman for the trust said: "As soon as the school became aware of the concerns, we followed all established protocols.

"This involved working with the relevant exam board and following all their instructions.

"We also worked with the exam board to ensure pupils were not disadvantaged."

Mr Spelacy is unable to appeal for his ban to be lifted until September 2026.