Teachers Beware!

In April 2018, the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) took over the responsibility of the regulation and discipline of teachers from the National College for Teaching and Leadership. They act on receipt of allegations of serious teacher misconduct and decide whether a teacher should be prohibited from teaching work.

The number of referrals to the TRA has increased over recent years. They received 985 teacher misconduct referrals in 2018-19, an increase of over 10% on the previous year. I suspect that this will increase even further over the next few years. However, it’s not all bad news. Despite the increased number of referrals, only 143 proceeded to professional conduct panels. Of these, 91 (64%) resulted in teachers being banned from the profession which represents a slight fall in the proportion of teachers being banned after appearing in front of a professional conduct panel.

The stakes for teachers facing serious allegations of misconduct is extremely high. The TRA can recommend that teachers be made subject to a ‘Prohibition Order. A ‘Prohibition Order’ prevents a teacher from undertaking unsupervised teaching work in schools or other settings. It is a lifetime ban albeit, in some circumstances, a teacher may be allowed to apply to have the ‘Prohibition Order’ reviewed.

Allegations of misconduct can have a profound impact and life-changing consequences on a teacher’s career, reputation, and personal life.  Whatever the allegation, if you receive a referral from the TRA, we suggest that you consult a solicitor.

If you need specialist advice, then get in touch with us and let us help.