Mr Bhavik Solanki

Introduction

Mr Bhavik Solanki was a class teacher at Langland Community School in Milton Keynes between November 2021 and July 2022. In November 2023 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found that, in March 2022, he had grabbed and pulled a pupil, Student A, by his jumper, wrist and arm, using inappropriate and unnecessary force that left the child in tears. Solanki admitted the facts of every allegation in a signed statement of agreed facts and accepted a police caution for assault by beating. He was prohibited from teaching indefinitely, with a two-year review period — meaning he may apply for the order to be set aside from 6 December 2025 at the earliest.

Background Information

The incident happened on the morning of 18 March 2022. Student A, who had been under a table upstairs near another classroom, was told by a member of staff to return to class or be given a warning, and that his mother would be called. Solanki came out, put a five-minute timer on the table and went back in; when the timer ran out and Student A was still hiding behind a desk, Solanki shouted “you have to get back into class now!” and, when he did not go, pulled both his arms. Student A ended up on a sofa, screaming “I hate you, I hate you Mr Solanki”, to which, he said, Solanki told him he did not care. A colleague covering Solanki’s class at his request saw through the open door that he was pulling Student A by the arms, gripping one wrist with his other hand under the child’s armpit, “pulling Student A with strength as Student A was resisting”. She described Student A as distraught, crying and repeatedly shouting “I hate you”, and the other children as disturbed by it. In her view the incident was unprovoked.

CCTV footage was viewed the same day, the matter was referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer, and Solanki was suspended. He was interviewed by police on 4 May 2022, and on 10 June 2022 he received and signed a police caution. The caution set out that on 18 March 2022 he had assaulted Student A by beating him contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. A disciplinary hearing followed on 5 July 2022, and the school referred the matter to the TRA on 18 July 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted findings. The findings in this section rest on Solanki’s own admissions: he provided a signed statement of agreed facts, dated 18 September 2023, admitting the facts of allegations 1a, 1b, 2, 3 and 4, and admitted unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The TRA agreed to his request that the allegations be considered without a hearing, and the panel met privately by video on 28 November 2023 to consider the case.

In his own account to the panel, Solanki said that after a second five-minute warning he found Student A lying on the floor in front of a cupboard, could not raise the learning mentors by walkie-talkie, and then “had a momentary lapse of control, and he used his arms to bring Student A across the corridor, off the floor and onto the sofa”. He said the episode lasted about thirty seconds, that he knew instantly he had overstepped the mark, and that he let go when he realised he was doing something wrong. The panel noted the contemporaneous CCTV footage, the adult witness, his admissions and his caution, and found the evidence corroborated the same version of events. It found all particulars proved: grabbing and holding Student A, pulling him, the use of inappropriate and/or unnecessary force, the distress that made Student A cry, and the caution.

The panel found the conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, amounting to an abuse of trust and a violation of Student A’s rights, and — although no listed offence was directly relevant — noted the accepted caution for assault by beating. It found his actions deliberate, calculated and motivated, and noted he had not reported the incident himself; it had been reported by the colleague who witnessed it. The panel also weighed what it described as Mr Solanki’s propensity to display previous abusive behaviour in his domestic setting, with the proximity of the caution, in recommending prohibition.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect, finding that public confidence could be seriously weakened if such conduct were not treated with the utmost seriousness. On mitigation, Solanki said he had relived the event every day since, that in nine or ten years of teaching he had never done anything like it, that he believed there were no marks on Student A, and that he apologised to Student A and the school. The panel found he had demonstrated a degree of insight and some element of remorse, but said the triggers and motivations for any violent behaviour should remain key considerations for him to address. Because none of the behaviours that would militate against a review period were found relevant, the panel recommended a two-year review period, giving him the opportunity to demonstrate a sustained period of improvement before an alternative panel.

Current Status

Mr Bhavik Solanki 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, Sarah Buxcey, agreed that a two-year review period was proportionate, and the order states the terms precisely: “He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 6 December 2025, 2 years from the date of this order at the earliest.” That is not an automatic right — a future panel would consider any application, and without a successful one he remains prohibited for life. The order was signed on 30 November 2023 and took effect when served on him.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban removed Solanki from a career he told the panel he had pursued professionally for nine or ten years; the panel noted he had already left teaching voluntarily, so it found no particularly strong public interest in retaining him. The case records how quickly an incident escalated: a five-minute timer, a child hiding behind a desk, thirty seconds of physical force, and within three months a suspension, a police interview and a caution. He had been working as maternity cover and told the panel he felt under pressure for his year 5 class to do well in their tests that week to improve his chances of being kept on. The published record does not describe what he has done since; his route back into teaching depends on a set-aside application no earlier than December 2025.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Bhavik Solanki” — source