A SCHOOLS watchdog is under the spotlight over its commitment to transparency after a case involving a former teacher who had sex with pupils at an independent school was heard in private.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) has confirmed that more than 50 per cent of procedural hearings are now being considered partly or mostly in private.

Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith said of the statistics: “The GTCS should reflect on these figures and reassess exactly when it’s appropriate for hearings to be held behind closed doors.”

The GTCS maintains professional standards for teachers and receives complaints about members of the profession. So-called “fitness to teach” panels examine the allegations and teachers can be struck off the register.

It emerged last week that a former teacher at Merchiston Castle, a private school in Edinburgh, agreed to be struck off for having sex with 17 and 18-year-old male pupils in 2014/15.

The GTCS accepted a ‘removal with consent’ order from the teacher after she admitted to the charges.

However, she was not named after the panel accepted an application for the hearing to be heard in private.

Afterwards, Merchiston Castle headteacher Andrew Hunter said: “We sincerely regret that, despite the school relentlessly pursuing the highest child safety standards, this individual ignored all of our policies and procedures and acted in this shocking way, breaching the trust of the school, our pupils and our parents.”

According to figures obtained by the Sunday Herald the number of procedural hearings being heard partly or mostly in private is on the rise.

In 2013/14, there were no examples of a case at that stage being heard in private. However, in the next 12-month period three of seven cases had a private element to them. In 2015/16, 10 of 18 cases were heard this way, while in the last financial year it was 13 of 24 cases.

A hearing will take place in private if a panel decides that it is appropriate in the circumstances. The GTCS “practice statement” makes clear the default position for hearings is that they are heard in public, but notes there are “exceptions”.

Examples cited include protecting children or an individual’s private life, as well as “special circumstances” such as national security or public disorder.

Smith added: “There will always be cases, particularly when the identification of a pupil is at risk, where these procedures should be heard in private. But these should be kept to a minimum as it’s important the GTCS is transparent and accountable.”

A GTCS spokesperson said: “It is important to compare the relatively small number of 24 procedural cases in 2017 against the 70,000 teachers registered to teach in Scotland. The cases we deal with are increasingly complex.

Where they involve vulnerable witnesses the panel can agree to hear a case in private which we believe is fair and protects children and young people.

“The increase in procedural hearings is because we now have powers of Removal With Consent which allows a teacher to agree charges and be removed from the teaching register without a full hearing. Procedural hearings are also sometimes necessary to agree legal arrangements in advance of a full public hearing and, given the increasing complexity of cases, we have required more of these hearings.”