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Five schools caught cheating in national tests were stripped of their results yesterday.

Investigators found evidence of malpractice in the Key Stage 2 Sats tests taken by 11-year-olds.

Four of the schools lost all their marks in English, maths and science, and a fifth had its results removed for English. Two of them were among the best primaries in England in previous years, but will now be at the bottom of the league tables.

Teachers’ unions said that the excessive pressure of targets and league tables was driving some teachers to cheat. Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “It is deeply sad to see some schools fall into the trap of malpractice. This demonstrates the extreme pressure that some schools and some teachers feel to perform to targets which may not reflect the ability of the children in their midst.

“We need an assessment system that promotes professional integrity and this one does not.”

Mr Brookes criticised ministers for failing to listen to schools’ concerns over the tests. Figures show that the number of schools accused of amending their pupils’ results rose from 101 in 2005 to 115 last year.

A report into maladministration said that examples of this included teachers who had previous knowledge of the questions coaching children for the test. They were also alleged to have given pupils too much help during the test or to have made changes to their papers after the exam.

About 500 schools are investigated by the National Assessment Agency each year, after parents, teachers or test-markers raise concerns.

The five found guilty of malpractice included St Charles’s Catholic Primary School, in Liverpool. The teacher at the centre of that incident is thought to have buckled under pressure and subsequently left the school.

Examiners contacted the NAA after noticing that tests at Brockswood Primary School, in Hemel Hemp-stead, and St Bernadette’s Roman Catholic School, in St Albans. The schools are in Hertfordshire and a county council spokeswoman said: “The NAA found that test papers had been altered. Investigators were called in but it was not possible to identify how alterations had been made in either case. However, it was felt that lax administrative procedures had contributed.”

The test results were also annulled for Springfield Community Primary School in Hackney, East London.

William Cowper Primary School, in Birmingham, was stripped of its English results.

Teachers who falsify results run the risk of ruining their careers. In the past six years the General Teaching Council has heard 30 such cases.

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