EXAMS watchdog Ofqual has said safeguards for testing should be “strengthened” following an incident which saw a Hampshire teacher suspended.

Ofqual’s report, published in the wake of exam leak allegations, said cheating is rare but can be “deeply damaging” to public confidence when it happens.

The watchdog conducted a review of rules and safeguards in place to stop confidential information being disclosed after two high-profile private schools became embroiled in controversy over exam breaches in August.

As previously reported, head of art history at Winchester College Laurence Wolff was suspended after an investigation was launched by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), which organises the A-level-equivalent Cambridge Pre-U exams, into irregularities concerning the Pre-U arts history exams at both Winchester College and Eton College, Berkshire.

A pupil at the £38,000-a-year school was handed information as a revision tool on topics which would later come up in the arts history exam. The boy, who was unaware the information would come up in the exam, then sent it to another pupil at Eton College.

Mr Wolff later retired from his roll at the college.

At the time, a spokesman for Winchester College said it had notified the exam board as soon as it became aware, and that “no boy was to blame for the exam irregularity”.

Now the subsequent report has said: “proven cases of inappropriate disclosure by teachers who had been involved with developing assessment materials are rare”, pointing out there were three cases in 2015, one in 2016 and three in 2017.It added: “While incidents of the type we saw this summer are rare, they can be deeply damaging to public confidence.“We believe the current safeguards should be strengthened to maintain public confidence in the exam system and reduce the risk of malpractice in future.

Ofqual estimates that, in a typical year, approximately 1,300 teachers are involved in writing the exams taken in England for GCSEs, AS and A-levels and the main alternative qualifications.

“Most people who responded to our call for evidence strongly believe that the quality of exam papers will decline if teachers are not involved in their production. Many raised concerns about the alternatives.”

It added: “The exam system clearly benefits from the contributions of teachers and we believe that the system generally works well.

“There is a risk the quality of exam papers will decline if teachers are not permitted to contribute to their development.”

“No other pool of people has the specific subject knowledge and understands how students across the ability range will respond to the questions.”

Ofqual said it expects to finalise its preferred package of safeguards next month and a consultation will follow.

Winchester College declined to comment further following the release the latest news.