Guidance

Teacher misconduct: information for teachers

Updated 28 January 2022

Applies to England

Misconduct case progression

Referrals

If the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) receives a referral about you, we will decide whether to undertake an investigation or to discontinue the case and take no further action. Once this initial decision has been made, you will be informed in writing.

If we notify you that we have decided to investigate, we recommend you contact a legal professional or union representative for advice. We cannot give advice – we can only explain the processes involved in the regulation framework and how cases are administered.

Following the investigation we will provide you with the evidence and you will be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. It is your choice whether or not to respond to the allegations at this stage. You may for example, choose to send in paperwork relevant to your case such as notes of a school investigation. As previously recommended, it is advisable to contact an organisation for professional advice before making any response.

Once the deadline for a response has passed, the case will be considered by a TRA decision maker. The decision maker will take into account all the documentation received to date, including information from the referrer, yourself and any other parties we contacted to collate a full picture of the allegations, such as previous employers or the police.

If the decision maker decides that there is a case to answer and the alleged misconduct is potentially serious enough to result in prohibition, it will be referred to a professional conduct panel and we will pass the evidence to a presenting officer. A presenting officer is a lawyer we instruct to prepare the case and then present the allegations and evidence against you to a professional conduct panel.

If we do not believe that the person referred is a teacher under our regulations or we consider that the misconduct is not serious enough or that there is no case to answer, then we will discontinue the case and notify you and the referrer.

Interim prohibition orders

At any stage of your case, we may consider imposing an interim prohibition order. This prevents you from teaching until your case has concluded. They are used in the public interest to protect pupils and the public from harm.

If we are considering an interim prohibition order, you will receive a letter giving you 10 working days to present additional information. Once we receive your response or the deadline has passed, a senior TRA staff member will make a decision within 5 working days.

If an interim prohibition order is imposed, we will write to you and your current employer. You can request a review of the interim prohibition order within 6 months of the decision to impose it on you. You can then apply for further reviews every 6 months. The application needs to be in writing, setting out grounds for the review.

Further information on how interim prohibition orders are considered is available in the Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers document .

An interim prohibition order does not influence the final decision made about prohibition. That decision is made independently.

Professional conduct panel

A professional conduct panel is made up of 3 independent people who are not employed by TRA or the Department for Education (DfE). A panel must include at least one teacher and one lay member (someone who has never been a teacher). The third panel member may be a person who has taught previously but does not currently meet the teacher panellist criteria and will be referred to as a former teacher panellist. One of the panel acts as the chair. A panel is assisted with the regulatory process and points of law by an independent legal adviser who does not participate in any decision making. A panel will consider a case and then make a collective decision on whether each allegation is proven or not. If a panel find any of the allegations proven and makes a finding of serious misconduct, it will then make a recommendation about whether a teacher should be prohibited. The final decision on prohibition is then made by a senior TRA official.

Proceeding to a professional conduct panel

You will receive a letter saying who the presenting officer is and what allegations have been referred to a hearing, with a summary of why the decision maker decided to pass the case on to a professional conduct panel.

Enclosed with the letter, will be a response form for you to complete and return within 2 weeks. The form asks whether you admit any or all of the allegations, and if any allegations are admitted, whether you admit that the facts of the case amount to serious misconduct. We use 3 headings of serious misconduct and any or all of these may be applicable:

  • unacceptable professional conduct
  • conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute
  • has been convicted, at any time, of a relevant offence

Requesting a professional conduct panel meeting

If you admit all of the allegations and admit that the facts amount to serious misconduct, then you may request in your response form to have your case heard at a meeting instead of a hearing. This is usually a quicker option as it takes less time to prepare and fewer people have to attend. If you request this option, we will consider whether the case is suitable to be held as a meeting . If your case is considered at a meeting, it does not automatically follow that you will be prohibited. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Also, you may admit all of the allegations and admit serious misconduct, but still prefer to have a hearing.

Statement of agreed facts

If you admit all the facts and serious misconduct and request a meeting, the presenting officer will contact you or your representative to prepare, sign and date a statement of agreed facts. This must be done within 3 weeks of the presenting officer’s request. This document will state that you admit all of the allegations and that they amount to serious misconduct. It will also allow you to provide the context for your admitted behaviour, for example to explain what happened and why. The panel will consider this statement as part of the evidence put before it at the meeting.

When a meeting is possible

If you request the meeting option, we will consider whether the case is suitable for a meeting, taking into account the Teacher misconduct: Disciplinary procedures . We will only consider cases for meetings if the facts are not contested. If all of the allegations are not admitted or if you admit the allegations but do not admit serious misconduct, then a hearing is required to investigate and establish the facts of the case.

The case will also proceed to a hearing if:

  • you do not respond with a completed form within 2 weeks of receiving the notification letter
  • a statement of agreed facts cannot be agreed by you and the presenting officer
  • after considering the request for a meeting, the TRA decision maker decides that it is in the public interest or in the interest of justice for the case to be considered at a hearing

What happens at a professional conduct panel meeting

The professional conduct panel will meet in private to consider the case on the papers presented to them, assisted by a legal adviser. There are no witnesses and the presenting officer and teacher do not attend.

Please note that a public notice of a meeting is published on GOV.UK website one week in advance.

If a finding of serious misconduct is made, the panel will decide upon a recommendation on prohibition. The TRA decision maker will usually make the final decision within one working day, and you and the referrer will normally be informed in writing within 2 working days of the decision being made. If there is a finding of serious misconduct, a document summarising the outcome will be published online within 2 weeks.

Preparing for a professional conduct panel hearing

If the case is proceeding to a hearing, the presenting officer will contact you or your representative to discuss preparation for the case. For example, they will discuss arrangements for exchanging documents and witness statements. To make the proceedings fair, both parties are entitled to have advance sight of the evidence that the other side intends to rely upon at the hearing. This assists both parties in being able to present their case.

Once the presenting officer has concluded their preparation of the case, we will send you a Notice of Hearing at least 10 weeks before the hearing date. This contains important information regarding the details of the hearing including the:

  • date, time and location of the hearing
  • names of the panellists
  • allegations
  • names of the TRA witnesses
  • details of the presenting officer
  • requirements for the service of documents for the hearing

Please note that the wording of allegations may change between the initial letter informing you that the matter has been referred to a hearing and the Notice of Hearing, in order to reflect the evidence gathered by the presenting officer.

We will send a response form with the Notice of Hearing for you to complete and return within 3 weeks. The form asks you a number of questions to assist both TRA and the panel with the administrative arrangements for the hearing.

Case papers

The case papers are the evidence that the panel will be asked to consider. Examples of what might be included are:

  • witness statements
  • minutes from meetings
  • paperwork relating to a school or police investigation
  • correspondence between a school and yourself
  • records of training you have attended
  • your personnel files
  • files relating to pupils, school policies

Unrepresented teachers

If you are represented, your representative will handle the preparation of the case papers and also the presentation of your case at the hearing. However, if you are unrepresented then it would be useful to think about what evidence could help your case. For example:

  • were there witnesses to any of the alleged conduct?
  • are there members of staff that have an insight into any of the circumstances involved?
  • are there notes of meetings or copies of emails or letters that are relevant?

If you are unrepresented, you should then contact those witnesses or whoever would have copies of relevant documents to obtain that evidence before the hearing.

Serving papers

The Teacher misconduct: disciplinary procedures state that both parties must send the other party and TRA all of the documents they intend to rely upon at least 4 weeks in advance of the hearing. This is known as serving papers. The presenting officer will send you the evidence they intend to include in the case papers. You will be asked to provide any evidence you wish to have included.

If either side wish to include additional documents in the case papers outside this timeframe, they must inform the other party as soon as possible and make an application to the panel on the first day of the hearing to ask that the documents are accepted.

The party will have to prove to the panel that the late documents are relevant and explain why they were not served at least 4 weeks in advance. The other party will also have the opportunity to object to their inclusion on the grounds of unfairness, or on the grounds that the documents are not relevant to the proceedings. The panel will consider any applications and announce in public its decision and reasons on whether to allow the late documents to be submitted.

Witness statements

Often, a party may wish to rely upon the evidence given by a witness. This requires the party to contact the witness and ask them to prepare, sign and date a written statement of what they saw or know about the allegations. These statements form part of the papers that each party must share with one another in advance of the hearing. It is important that a witness statement is signed and dated and clearly states who the witness is (for example their full name and their role) to ensure that it is valid.

Either party may wish to call a witness to give live evidence at a hearing. This is considered better evidence than a written statement as it means that the panel and both parties can test the evidence by asking the witness questions about their statement. If either side intends to call a witness to give evidence then it assists the panel if they include a signed and dated written statement from that witness in the case papers.

If witnesses are giving live evidence at a virtual hearing they are expected to attend virtually.

If witnesses are giving live evidence at an in-person hearing they may be able to attend virtually if this has been agreed by all other parties or via a panel case management direction.

Each party is entitled to call 2 witnesses to a hearing, and we will reimburse their expenses (for example cost of travel to the hearing). If either party wishes to claim expenses for more than 2 witnesses then they must contact the TRA hearings manager as early as possible to explain why they need more witnesses to attend. If either party wishes to call a witness but they have refused to attend, they can make an application for a direction requiring the witness to attend. This application would need to be made to us in advance of the hearing.

New evidence

Sometimes in the course of an investigation, the presenting officer will find new evidence that means they believe new allegations should be added. If this happens, the presenting officer will write to us requesting a change with reasons to support this, enclosing any new evidence that relates to the request. We will write to you enclosing a copy of the application made by the presenting officer and you will normally have 4 weeks to respond. Once we have received your response, or the deadline has passed, we will refer the request to a decision maker. The decision maker will then decide whether the new or amended allegations should be taken forward.

If there are new allegations, you will still receive the minimum 10 weeks of notice before a hearing date, so this may mean the hearing date is rescheduled to give you additional time to respond to the new allegations.

If you or your representative provides new evidence to us that challenges whether the allegations should be taken further, we will refer this new evidence to a decision maker. The decision maker will then decide whether there is a still a case to answer, whether there should be further investigation or whether the case should be discontinued. You will receive the decision in writing within 2 weeks of the decision being made.

Misconduct hearings

Listing a date for the case

Once the case has been referred to a professional conduct panel, we will schedule the case for a hearing and you will be informed of the date. If you cannot attend on those dates, for example you are out of the country, then you will need to inform TRA as soon as possible. If you provide very limited availability, we reserve the right to list the case on a date of our choosing. This is to ensure that unnecessary delays are avoided. The length of a hearing will vary depending on the complexity of the case and the number of witnesses giving evidence.

Location of hearings

TRA hearings are virtual by default via Microsoft Teams.

If you would like an in-person hearing please contact us as soon as possible, but no later than 5 working days after receipt of the Notice of Hearing.

In certain cases we may decide that a hearing is unsuitable to be held virtually.

For an in-person hearing, it may be possible for a party to attend virtually if all other parties agree. If not, then the panel will decide whether to make a case management direction.

Virtual hearing

You can access a virtual hearing by joining the hearing remotely. We will provide you with further guidance on how to access the virtual hearing.

In-person hearing

You can access an in-person hearing by attending our office in Coventry:

How to get to the TRA office in Coventry.

You and your representative will need to bring photographic ID.

On arrival at our office, the reception desk staff will sign you in and give you a pass. You must wear this pass at all times in the building. A TRA member of staff will take you and your representative to a room reserved for you. There is a canteen where drinks, snacks and a hot or cold lunch can be purchased. (Payment is by card only.)

Vulnerable witnesses

Giving evidence can be a difficult experience and we are committed to ensuring that being a witness does not have a negative impact on someone’s wellbeing. We treat all children under the age of 18 at the start of a hearing as vulnerable witnesses. This means that special measures may be considered to support them to give their best evidence. This may include being able to give evidence via a video link or having the teacher seated behind a screen while evidence is given.

There are other reasons why we treat someone as a vulnerable witness and this may include any witness:

  • who is the alleged victim where the allegation against the teacher is of a sexual nature
  • with a mental disorder
  • who is significantly impaired in relation to intelligence and social functioning
  • with physical disabilities who requires assistance to give evidence
  • who complains of intimidation

Special measures considered necessary to safeguard the interests of a vulnerable witness may include the:

  • use of a video link
  • use of pre-recorded evidence
  • use of interpreters (including signers and translators)
  • use of an intermediary (an adult who helps explain questions to the witness)
  • hearing of evidence by the panel in private
  • attendance of a witness supporter

You are not allowed to question a child witness. Also, where any part of the allegation is sexual in nature and the alleged victim is giving evidence, you are not allowed to question that witness. However, your representative is entitled to question all witnesses. If you do not intend to be represented in a case involving a child or vulnerable witness you should contact us as soon as possible.

A party who wishes to call a vulnerable witness, must submit an application to do so to us as far in advance as possible. A case management meeting will then be arranged at which a panel will consider any applications made. This is likely to be held virtually, unless it is necessary for it to be held in person. A legal adviser will be present to ensure fairness and that the correct procedures are followed. As with all applications, the panel will make a decision and inform both parties of its decision and reasons.

Witness questioning

Questioning is an essential element of a fair hearing. The witness may be questioned on the accuracy of their evidence and an alternative version of events may be put to them for their comment.

The hearing process is investigative rather than adversarial. Questioning by the panel, presenting officer, you or your representative should be courteous and not intimidating, but it may be challenging. This applies to the questioning of all witnesses, including yourself.

If at any point the panel feel that questioning is not appropriate, then the panel or legal advisor will intervene.

Making applications

There are different kinds of applications that both parties can make either before or during a hearing. In addition to applications to submit late papers, to treat someone as a vulnerable witness, and to direct that a witness attends a hearing, other applications may include but are not limited to:

If a party wishes to make an application, they should tell the other party in advance that they intend to do so if possible. They then need to present an argument to the panel, and the other party may challenge if they wish. The panel will then consider the application in private with the assistance of a legal adviser. If the application is made during a hearing, the panel will announce its decision and reasons in public. If the application is made before a hearing and dealt with at a case management meeting, the panel’s decision will be sent in writing to both parties within 7 calendar days.

Where there will be evidence about medical conditions or medical histories, it is usual practice for an application to be made to request that this evidence should be heard in private. Please refer to the Data protection, privacy and public information section for more information on requesting that a hearing takes place partly or wholly in private.

Not attending a hearing

You do not have to attend the hearing of your case – it is your choice. You also do not have to be represented. You may choose to present your own case or ask a friend or family member to represent you. You can choose not to attend a hearing, but ask your representative to attend on your behalf. However, it is recommended that you contact a union representative or legal professional for advice.

If you do not attend your hearing, it is important to note that your written statement may be given less weight than if you gave evidence in person. This is because the panel is assisted by being able to ask you questions about your evidence. This weighting is the same for all witness evidence – evidence given in person is generally given more weight than a written statement.

If you or your representative does not attend the hearing, we are likely to apply for the hearing to proceed in your absence. The panel will consider whether:

  • certain documents were served on you
  • you have expressed an intention to attend or not to attend
  • it is fair to continue in your absence
  • whether there is a likelihood that you would attend if the hearing was rescheduled

Adjournments and postponements

A postponement application may be made by either party before the first day of the hearing and will be considered by TRA officials. For a postponement to be agreed, strong reasons must be presented why it would be in the interests of justice to delay the hearing.

Adjournments can be requested by either party after the hearing has started by making an application to the panel. Reasons for requesting an adjournment may include that a participant is unwell or an unexpected emergency has occurred and therefore a participant cannot attend. Adjournments can also occur when a hearing takes longer than expected and so the parties need to come back at a later date to continue the hearing.

Amending the allegations

At any stage before making its decision about whether the facts have been proved, the panel may, in the interests of justice, amend an allegation. Before making an amendment, the panel will consider any representations by the presenting officer and by yourself or your representative, and will take advice from the legal adviser.

At the hearing

Attending the hearing there will be:

  • 3 panel members, one of which will be the panel chair who will direct and manage the hearing
  • a presenting officer, who is a lawyer, appointed by us, to prepare and present the case
  • a legal adviser, who is a lawyer, independent of TRA, who gives advice to the panel about the law and TRA procedures but is not involved in the decision-making process
  • you, the subject of the allegations
  • your representative
  • witnesses
  • TRA staff

Members of the public, including the press, may attend both virtual and in-person hearings as observers. They may attend an in-person hearing virtually.

All hearings are recorded. We do not routinely transcribe these recordings. If you would like a transcript of your hearing, you would need to pay the costs of the transcription. The transcript would be redacted to remove any 3rd party personal data.

Outline of a hearing

The aim of a hearing is to investigate the evidence so that a panel can decide whether the facts against you have been proved and whether that amounts to one or more categories of serious misconduct:

  • unacceptable professional conduct
  • conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute
  • conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence

In our proceedings, the presenting officer is required to demonstrate that the facts alleged are more likely to have happened than not. This is known as the balance of probabilities, which is the standard of proof used in civil proceedings.

There is no onus on you to prove your innocence – the burden is on the presenting officer to prove the case against you.

1. Opening of the hearing by the chair and confirmation of attendees

The chair introduces themself and the other members of the panel hearing the case and explains the arrangements and procedure for the hearing. The chair asks you or your representative and the presenting officer to confirm their names. The chair then asks the parties to confirm the names and occupations of any witnesses they intend to call. You or your representative are also asked to confirm whether you will be giving evidence.

2. Preliminary applications

Before the main part of the hearing begins, the parties have the opportunity to submit preliminary applications and the panel will consider and decide on any applications made.

3. Documents

The chair confirms that all the papers in the hearing bundle are correct and that everyone has sight of a full set of papers. If either party has new documents to present to the panel, the panel considers whether to accept them at this point.

4. Allegations

The chair reads out the allegation. The chair then asks whether you admit the facts of the allegation and, if so, whether you admit that it amounts to:

  • unacceptable professional conduct
  • conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute
  • conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence

Where you admit the facts, the chair invites the presenting officer to read out any agreed statement of facts.

Where you dispute the facts, the chair invites the presenting officer and you or your representative to make an opening statement.

5. Presenting officer presents evidence and witnesses

The chair invites the presenting officer to present their evidence (including evidence presented through witnesses). If witnesses are called, the chair asks them to affirm the truth of their evidence or to read an oath appropriate to their faith or religion. Written witness statements are normally taken as read, though the panel may direct them to be read aloud. The presenting officer may then question their witness.

6. Questioning by you or your representative

The chair informs you or your representative that you may ask the witness questions, including putting an alternative version of events to the witness if you disagree with what the witness has said.

7. Questioning by members of the panel

Members of the panel may then ask the witness questions.

8. Re-questioning by presenting officer

The chair may allow the presenting officer to re-question their witness on new areas raised by your, your representative’s or the panel’s questions.

9. Witnesses called by you or your representative

The witnesses called by you are then questioned. You may also give evidence at this point if you choose to do so. You or your representative asks questions first, followed by the presenting officer and then the panel. You or your representative may then re-question your witnesses on any new areas raised.

10. Release of witnesses

After each witness has given evidence, the chair considers whether the witness can be released or whether they may need to be recalled. The parties may be asked whether they have a view about this.

11. Closing statements

Once all witness evidence has been heard, the chair invites both parties, beginning with the presenting officer, to make closing statements summarising their case. The chair reminds the parties that new evidence should not be introduced at this stage.

12. Conclusion and decision

The chair asks the parties to return to their waiting areas while the panel meets in private to consider whether it concludes that the facts of the case are proven and, if so, whether this amounts to:

  • unacceptable professional conduct
  • conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute
  • conviction of a relevant offence

After a period of deliberation, the panel will call the parties back to the hearing room and the chair will read aloud the announced decision, stating with whether the panel finds each allegation proven or not and, if there is a finding, whether this amounts to serious misconduct.

Mitigation

If there is a finding of serious misconduct, the panel will ask you or your representative whether you wish to offer any mitigation, including that not previously mentioned. This can involve you or other witnesses giving oral evidence. Mitigation is about providing reasons and explanations for your behaviour, and it should be relevant to a decision as to whether to impose a prohibition order. You should refer to Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers for the types of behaviours and factors considered when a recommendation and decision about prohibition are made. This document is advice from the Secretary of State that the panel and TRA decision maker must use when making a judgement about prohibition.

The presenting officer is also invited to make a submission and at this point they may draw the panel’s attention to any previous regulatory outcomes or sanctions.

Final decision on prohibition

After mitigation is heard, the hearing concludes and both parties are dismissed. The panel then decides in private whether to recommend to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order is appropriate. This recommendation is passed to a senior TRA member of staff and they make the final decision about prohibition on behalf of the Secretary of State. This is usually done within one working day and you will be notified via email, normally within 2 working days of the decision being made.

If there has been a finding of serious misconduct, the referrer and your current employer are also notified. Within 2 weeks of the decision being made, a summary of the case and the outcome is published on GOV.UK. If the Secretary of State’s decision is to impose a prohibition order, the decision will be published on GOV.UK whilst the order is in place. If the Secretary of State’s decision is not to impose a prohibition order, the decision will be published for 2 years from the date the decision is published.

Review periods

Prohibition orders apply indefinitely. In some cases, however, the TRA decision maker may allow a period of review after which you may apply to have the prohibition order set aside. Applications to set aside prohibition orders are considered by a different professional conduct panel and the onus is on you to prove to the panel that you are suitable to be allowed back into teaching.

Appeals

If you are prohibited, you are entitled to appeal against your prohibition order within 28 calendar days. Appeals should be made directly to the High Court. A lawyer is not required to lodge an appeal, although it may be beneficial to speak to a legal professional. Appeals cannot be made to TRA, DfE or the Secretary of State. However, you should serve a copy of the appeal notice, together with copies of any other documents you have filed in the High Court, on the Secretary of State within the period specified by the court.

Customer feedback

We provide optional questionnaires for you, your representative and witnesses. This is to help our hearings team to understand each party’s experience of the regulation process. This feedback is collected so we can review and improve our processes, guidance and communications.

Data protection, privacy, and public information

Contact details

Our regulation team handles very sensitive data and we are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of all data that we use in the course of our work. When a referral is made about you, we will write to you using the last known address we have on file. It is important that you let us know if your address or other contact details change so that sensitive documents are posted to the correct address.

If you wish to have a representative to act on your behalf (such as a lawyer or a union representative) then you must provide us with your permission in writing. Without this written permission, we will not enter into correspondence with someone else about the case. You may opt to have all information sent via email, but again, we require your written permission to do this.

TRA contact with employers, referrers and other parties

Any person is able to make a referral to TRA, including the police, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), employers and members of the public. If we decide to take a case forward we will contact you, the referrer and, if you are still working as a teacher, your current employer. If a finding of serious misconduct is made, we will contact the referrer, and if you are still working as a teacher, your current employer.

As part of our investigations we may need to contact other organisations, for example, the police, to find out relevant information about the allegations.

Hearings held in private

The presumption is that professional conduct panel hearings are held in public and that members of the public, including the press, may observe hearings. If you believe that a hearing (or parts of it) should be heard in private, you can make an application request providing your reasons. This application can either be submitted in advance to us for a case management hearing, or submitted to the panel on the day of the hearing.

A panel may exclude the public from a hearing or part of a hearing where:

  • it appears to be in the interests of justice to do so
  • the teacher makes a request that the hearing should be in private and the panel does not consider it to be contrary to the public interest
  • it is necessary to protect the interests of children or vulnerable witnesses

Examples of where panels may go into private session include when they hear evidence about someone’s medical conditions or medical history, when the evidence relates to a child and the evidence may make them identifiable, or when a child or vulnerable witness is giving evidence.

Even when a professional conduct panel is held in private, the findings of the panel are announced in public in accordance with the interests of justice and the public interest.

At the end of the initial decision-making process, members of the public (including the press) may join the hearing to hear the chair of the panel read aloud the panel’s decision. This announced decision explains whether the panel found each allegation proven or unproven and why, and whether the panel made a finding of serious misconduct.

Information published about a case

If a case is due to be considered by a professional conduct panel, we will publish a notice on GOV.UK approximately 5 working days before the hearing or meeting starts. The information published is limited to your name, the location where you worked as a teacher, and the date and location of the panel.

At the start of a hearing the allegations are read out and are then made available to members of the press on request.

In concluded cases where there has been a finding of serious misconduct, a summary of the case is published online on GOV.UK within 2 weeks of the decision being made. The outcome summary document includes the findings of the panel, the panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State about prohibition, and the final decision on prohibition made by a senior TRA member of staff on behalf of the Secretary of State.

The names of all pupils involved and any witnesses who give evidence are anonymised in the summary documents that we publish.

We have a statutory duty to publish all decisions of the Secretary of State following a professional conduct panel, and must include the following information if you are prohibited by the Secretary of State:

  • your name, date of birth and teacher reference number
  • name of institution or local authority where you last worked
  • date prohibition order was made and the date it takes effect
  • the reasons for making the prohibition order

Please note that an outcome is published if there is a finding of serious misconduct, even if you are not prohibited from teaching. This will be published for 2 years from the date the decision is published.

The outcome summary document is published online indefinitely if a decision has been made to prohibit you from teaching. However, we may consider redacting published information upon written request if there is strong evidence that its publication is causing undue harm or distress.

If you make a successful application for the prohibition order to be set aside, the hearing outcome will be removed from GOV.UK.

In terms of press enquiries, we do not provide further information or comment on the summary documents that we publish. We do not comment on ongoing cases or disclose the names of teachers who have been referred.

Members of the public can request confirmation from us as to whether an individual is prohibited from teaching.

Information about a prohibition order will show on your online Employer Access record so that potential employers can check your teacher record to see if there are any sanctions recorded against you. If you make a successful application for the prohibition order to be set aside it will no longer show on Employer Access.

If you are found to have committed serious misconduct but you are not prohibited, this finding will be recorded on Employer Access for 2 years.

If none of the allegations against you are proven or if the proven allegations do not amount to serious misconduct, then no information about the case is recorded on your Employer Access or published online.

We share information as appropriate with other organisations including the DBS. For example, we share prohibition orders with the teacher regulatory bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and they share information with us, so that each body can consider whether to add the name of a teacher prohibited in another jurisdiction to its own prohibited list. If you have any questions about what information is made publicly available, please contact the Teacher Misconduct Unit on 0207 593 5393 or by email at misconduct.teacher@education.gov.uk.