AN academy chain “covered up” wholesale cheating by a school which paid professionals to “point at the answers” during SATs exams, a teacher claimed today.

The sensational allegation emerged as the National Education Union raised the alarm over the “falsification of data” being used to inflate grades.

Bob Groome, an NEU rep in Norfolk, told delegates: “We’ve had ... instances where schools hired in extra support for pupils during Sats examinations, in order to enhance the pass rate.