Arfan Munir Rai
Introduction
Mr Arfan Munir Rai (born 15 July 1978; teacher reference 0343157) is a former teacher of Philosophy and Sociology and EPQ Coordinator at Kensington Park School, London, from 1 February 2023. In February 2026, a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found he had offered private tuition to pupils outside school and without the school’s knowledge, told pupils not to tell the school, and instructed them to contact him under alternative names and a fake email address to conceal it. Rai denied all of the allegations. On 2 March 2026, decision maker Stuart Blomfield, for the Secretary of State for Education, accepted the panel’s recommendation and prohibited him from teaching indefinitely.
Background Information
Rai joined Kensington Park School on 1 February 2023 and was suspended on 7 March 2024 pending an internal investigation; after a disciplinary hearing his employment ended on 17 June 2024, and the school referred the matter to the TRA on 17 July 2024.
The case carried history. A 2023 school investigation into Rai was, after his grievance, accepted by the school as flawed and re-conducted; it produced a formal written warning on 14 November 2023 from Witness B of the school’s Advisory Board. The 21 December 2023 appeal outcome upheld the grievance and shortened the warning — but expressly confirmed Witness B’s recommendations remained in place.
The TRA panel convened on 16 February 2026 by virtual hearing, in public and recorded. Rai was present for most of it but absent on day five, and represented only for Witness A’s cross-examination, when Martin Jones of Hugh James LLP acted for him. The panel placed limited weight on the interview notes of Students A, C, D and E, untested as live evidence, and relied chiefly on Witness A, found credible and reliable. A SoundCloud line of cross-examination failed: Witness A first denied having an account, then admitted an old, unused one a friend may have accessed; no contact was evidenced, and Rai’s screenshot showed he had blocked the profile.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Adjudicated vs. alleged. No criminal proceedings were brought; the TRA panel decided each allegation on the balance of probabilities. Allegation 1(b) — personal comments attributed to Rai including “I am very lucky to have met you”, “I hope you stay in London” and a proposed “ping pong trip” — was found not proven in its entirety; the decision maker stated: “I have therefore put those matters entirely from my mind.” This page does not rely on them. Allegation 2 was proved only in respect of the school, not parents; the panel found the evidence “was to the contrary, namely that Mr Rai told pupils to inform their parents and sought parental consent.”
What remained was the concealed tuition. The panel found proved that Rai offered private tuition to pupils outside school premises and without the school’s knowledge. His defence — that pupils meant the school’s Easter Revision programme — collapsed on detail: Witness A and Student A said he proposed meeting in a café outside school, “strongly indicative that the tuition was not part of the School’s official programme”, and pupils said he asked them to use alternative names and a fake email address and not to tell the school. Rai accepted in the internal investigation that external tutoring of the school’s pupils was not permitted; school policy required the headteacher’s prior approval of one-to-one tuition. The panel did not find the tuition was intended to be provided without parental consent.
The panel also found Rai told pupils to email him under a different name to conceal his behaviour (allegation 3) and that he breached the professional instructions of 14 November 2023 and 21 December 2023 (allegation 4), which survived the grievance appeal. On allegation 5, applying the Ivey v Genting Casinos test, the panel found the conduct dishonest and that he knew it: telling pupils not to tell the school while asking them to use false identities “demonstrated that Mr Rai must have known that what he was doing was wrong.” It found the “offence of serious dishonesty was relevant” and that Rai “encouraged pupils to act dishonestly”, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
Public Reaction and Consequences
No public campaign followed; the consequences ran through institutional channels. The panel acknowledged an 18-year teaching career, no previous TRA findings, parental references describing “an extremely pro active and professional educator”, and a very positive February 2024 lesson observation. But it found Rai’s continued denials demonstrated “a lack of remorse, insufficient insight into his conduct and a failure to take accountability for his actions”, and recommended a prohibition order with a two-year review period. On 2 March 2026 Stuart Blomfield agreed: “I agree with the panel’s recommendation and I consider therefore that a two year review period is required to satisfy the maintenance of public confidence in the profession.”
Current Status
Rai is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He may apply for the order to be set aside, but not before 2 March 2028 — no automatic right; a panel would decide whether to lift it. He may also appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The findings ended Rai’s classroom career twice over: dismissal by Kensington Park School in June 2024, then the indefinite national ban. In submissions he described the personal toll of being out of classroom teaching since the allegations arose — “both professionally and personally.” The panel accepted he was an experienced and capable teacher, yet concluded his behaviour “fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher, and he sought to exploit his position of trust.” Any return to teaching in England now depends on a successful set-aside application after March 2028.