Daniel Watkins

Introduction

Daniel Watkins was a teacher at Hinchley Wood Learning Partnership who was banned from the profession for concealing a police investigation from his employer. He resigned from Grammar School Leeds in December 2017 and was offered a post at Hinchley Wood in January 2018. Before he started, he was arrested by North Yorkshire Police. He kept the arrest and the two-year investigation that followed secret from the school, then gave false accounts of it when questioned in 2020. The school dismissed him. He later admitted the facts, including dishonesty, and was prohibited from teaching indefinitely in November 2023 .

Background Information

Per the published decision, Watkins was employed by Grammar School Leeds until he submitted his resignation in December 2017, with a term’s notice. He successfully applied to Hinchley Wood Learning Partnership and was offered a role on 24 January 2018, to commence in April 2018 . References supplied by Grammar School Leeds indicated he was a good teacher, though the panel described these indicators as minimal and “of some vintage”. He had no previous disciplinary findings against him. The decision does not name his subject or how long he had taught overall. His police arrest came before he ever started the new job.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Concealed arrest, then lied about it. The panel found that Watkins hid a two-year police investigation from his employer and deliberately misled the school when it started asking questions.

On 5 March 2018, before he was due to start at Hinchley Wood Learning Partnership, Watkins was arrested by North Yorkshire Police on suspicion of an offence that the published decision does not identify. He began the job in April 2018 without disclosing it. The police investigation ran for two years and closed in April 2020 with no further action taken against him .

In June 2020, the school received concerns about why he had left Grammar School Leeds and that he had been “moonlighting” in a different role while employed there. When a school official raised this, Watkins said his former employer had allowed him time off to support his partner; he made no mention of the police. In a further discussion on or around 16 September 2020, he admitted there had been an investigation but claimed it concerned alcohol in his possession at Grammar School Leeds, which the panel found was an inaccurate explanation. On or around 17 September 2020 he told the school the matter had been closed in April 2018 and that he had received a “notification of no further action” at that time, when this was not true .

The relevant local authority designated officer contacted the police, who confirmed the investigation had actually closed in April 2020. The school dismissed Watkins in November 2020. By a statement of agreed facts signed on 30 April 2023, he admitted all five particulars, including that his conduct was dishonest: he accepted he knew disclosure was required, knew his explanations were wrong, and knew the April 2018 closure claim was false. The panel found every particular proved and his conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. It noted that when given the chance to correct himself, he instead “provided a further, inaccurate account”, and that his actions meant “a basic tenet of teaching, that of safer recruitment” could not be “properly carried out by the School” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Watkins asked for the allegations to be considered without a hearing, and the TRA agreed. A professional conduct panel met privately via Microsoft Teams on 30 October 2023, with neither Watkins nor a presenting officer present; only the decision was announced in public. The panel found all five particulars proved, including dishonesty, found his conduct breached the Teachers’ Standards, and identified the behaviours associated with the offence of serious dishonesty. It warned that public confidence in the profession “could be seriously weakened” if such conduct was not treated with the “utmost seriousness” . References suggesting he was a good teacher were given little weight, being “minimal and of some vintage”. The panel found no evidence of insight or remorse — he had offered “no suggestion that he appreciated the seriousness of his actions” — and recommended a prohibition order with a two-year review period. The police had taken no further action in April 2020; it was the dishonesty toward his employer that ended his career.

Current Status

On 2 November 2023, decision maker Sarah Buxcey, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, prohibited Daniel Watkins from teaching indefinitely. He cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 10 November 2025, two years from the date of the order at the earliest, and this is not an automatic right; a future panel would decide whether to lift it. Without a successful application, he remains prohibited indefinitely . The order takes effect from the date it is served, and he has a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice. The underlying suspicion was never adjudicated: the police closed the investigation with no further action, and the proven findings concern his dishonesty, not any offence.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban ended a teaching career that had already collapsed: dismissed in November 2020 and barred from teaching by a prohibition order in November 2023. In practice he cannot hold a teaching post in any English school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home. The panel acknowledged mitigating context — his actions took place “during a turbulent time in his life” and “may in the circumstances appear remediable” — but noted he had not attended to give further information . Any return to teaching would require detailed reflections demonstrating he understands a teacher’s duty of honesty and transparency.

Sources

• GOV.UK, “Mr Daniel Watkins: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome” — source