Andrew Boreland

Introduction

Andrew Boreland is a former teacher at Bishop Barrington School in Bishop Auckland who was prohibited from teaching indefinitely in April 2024 after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found he had engaged in an improper relationship with a young member of his church youth group while employed at the school, then concealed both the relationship and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) referral from his employer. Decision maker Marc Cavey found the concealment an act of serious dishonesty and imposed a lifetime ban with no review period and no right to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Boreland worked at Bishop Barrington School between January 2021 and August 2021 and held the role of Senior Youth Leader at a church, where he met Individual A, a person who attended the same church and whose age is redacted in the published decision. The relationship came to light on 2 July 2021 when a safeguarding concern was disclosed, a Durham LADO evaluation meeting followed on 12 July 2021, and Individual A’s parents confirmed they were aware of the relationship. The school suspended Boreland and, after completing an investigation, terminated his employment on 26 August 2021. He also resigned his church youth-leader role.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The case was decided at a reconvened hearing after an earlier session adjourned without Boreland’s participation. The panel found the relationship improper in the youth-leader context and the non-disclosures proved; it expressly rejected his explanation that he believed he had no obligation to tell the school.

The panel found Boreland engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Individual A, a member of the youth group he led at the church. It further found he failed to disclose the relationship to the school and failed to disclose that he had been the subject of a DBS referral — findings he admitted making no disclosures about while denying any failure, telling the panel he believed he was under no obligation to do so. The panel held that these were safeguarding issues a teaching professional should raise with an employer, that the DBS referral was relevant to the school and would be relevant at any school because teachers are placed in a position of trust, and that his failure to disclose was an act of serious dishonesty — telling the school nothing because he knew a disclosure would cost him another teaching job.

Public Reaction and Consequences

No press coverage attaches to the case; the published decision is the public record. The consequences moved through three institutions in quick succession: the church, where he resigned his Senior Youth Leader role; the school, which suspended him in July 2021 and dismissed him that August; and the regulator, where the case was heard in his absence after a reconvened hearing at which he offered no mitigation, insight or remorse. The panel found a strong public-interest consideration in the protection of pupils arising from the concealment, and Cavey adopted the panel’s recommendation without reservation.

Current Status

Boreland is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The decision maker further decided that he shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach, leaving no route back to the profession. The determination is dated 22 April 2024, with Cavey’s order dated 25 April 2024, effective from service. He retains a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order; the published record shows none was filed.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Boreland’s case turns on the regulator’s treatment of concealment as the gravest part of the conduct: the relationship itself was found improper, but it was the decision to say nothing to his employer — about the relationship or about the DBS referral — that the panel called serious dishonesty. His stated belief that he had no obligation to disclose was rejected outright, the panel reasoning that a teacher’s position of trust makes safeguarding disclosure a professional duty and not a matter of personal judgment. With no mitigation offered at the reconvened hearing, the ban landed at the severest tier: indefinite, with no restoration right.

Sources

• Dept for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Andrew Boreland” — source