20 February 2012 Last updated at 10:25 ET

A teacher who forged her qualifications may have over marked GCSE course work at a Devon school, Exeter Crown Court has heard.

Julia Rawlinson faked documents to work as an Edexcel examiner in 2007 and a biology teacher at Westlands School, Torquay, in 2011, the court heard.

Staff at the school became suspicious and called the police.

Sentencing was adjourned on Rawlinson, 44, of Brixham, who admitted false representation and forgery.

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The grades of children are likely to be affected”

End Quote Howard Phillips Prosecutor

Prosecutor Howard Phillips told the court Rawlinson had been marking course work and that as a consequence "the grades of children are likely to be affected".

Her forged documents included a masters degree in science psychology and a doctorate of science psychology from the Glasgow Caledonian University and a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

No mention was made in court of any impact Rawlinson's employment may have had on exam results marked by Edexcel.

Jolyon Tuck, defending Rawlinson, said she had not marked the course work, saying: "The teacher at the school doesn't mark the course work. It gets passed to an external marker."

He also said there were concerns about her mental health.

Photocopied certificates

Judge Phillip Wassall adjourned sentencing to allow new medical reports to be prepared. The issue of whether Rawlinson marked the course work at the school needed to be clarified, he said.

Colin Kirkman, head teacher at Westlands, said Rawlinson had portrayed herself as chief examiner for A-level biology with Edexcel and had helped the school before summer 2011 with A-level biology project work.

She had been taken on as a temporary part-time staff member on 1 September.

He said: "The normal CRB checks were undertaken and references received prior to employment.

"However, we noticed that her exam certificates were photocopies.

"As a result, we immediately contacted the universities where she 'gained' her qualifications to validate her certificates.

"We found that they were forgeries and reported this to the police."

Rawlinson's employment at Westlands was terminated in early October.

He also said the school understood Rawlinson had also worked in "at least two other schools" in the area.

Edexcel said it had reviewed Rawlinson's work while she was employed as an examiner for them and it was "confident every student received the grade they deserved".

The firm added the application process for markers had been strengthened as a result of the case.

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