David Polden

Introduction

David Polden was a secondary school teacher in Camden, London, who worked at Parliament Hill School, an all-girls comprehensive in Highgate, between 2017 and 2021. In December 2025 he was prohibited from teaching indefinitely by the Secretary of State for Education, after a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency found him guilty, through conviction, of a relevant offence: engaging in sexual communications with a child. The ban, imposed with no entitlement to apply for restoration, ended a career that had spanned agency and full-time teaching at the same school, and followed a 2023 conviction at Wood Green Crown Court and a suspended prison sentence.

Background Information

Polden was born in 1990. He first worked at Parliament Hill School in Camden as an agency worker deployed to the school between September 2017 and July 2018, before being taken on as a full member of teaching staff from 1 September 2018; his employment ran until 20 October 2021. The school is a girls’ secondary in Highgate. By 2021 he was providing language support to pupils, the role in which the school had warned him, in November 2020, against meeting pupils alone.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Conviction at Wood Green Crown Court, followed by a regulatory ban. The findings against Polden rest on a criminal conviction recorded at Wood Green Crown Court plus a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel finding of guilt through conviction of a relevant offence; the prohibition order is a regulatory sanction, made after Polden admitted the allegation in a signed statement of agreed facts and the case was considered without a hearing at his request, with neither he nor any representative attending.

In May 2021, Parliament Hill School discovered a conversation thread on its intranet system between Polden and a pupil which contained messages contended to be of a sexual nature. According to the sentencing transcript reviewed by the panel, Polden had messaged the pupil on numerous occasions over a period of five days, and the exchange developed into sexual messaging. He was arrested on 6 May 2021 on suspicion of sending sexual messages and interviewed under caution, and the police informed the TRA of the arrest on 7 May 2021.

On 13 February 2023, Polden was convicted at Wood Green Crown Court of engaging in sexual communications with a child, contrary to section 15A(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, the offence having taken place between 1 and 6 May 2021. He was sentenced on 20 April 2024 to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, and made subject to the Sex Offender Notification Requirements for seven years; he was also ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge, to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, to undertake an accredited programme for 35 days and to complete rehabilitation activity requirements of up to 30 days. The sentencing judge remarked that “this case clearly crosses the custody threshold”.

Polden admitted the allegation in his response to the notice of referral, signed on 31 July 2024, and in the statement of agreed facts signed on 16 January 2025. When the panel met on 2 December 2025, it accepted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof, found the allegation proved and determined that the facts amounted to a conviction of a relevant offence, in breach of the Teachers’ Standards. It recorded that there was “no evidence before it that Mr Polden had shown remorse or insight into his actions” and recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period. Sarah Buxcey, the decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, made the order on 5 December 2025.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The school’s discovery triggered immediate consequences: Polden was arrested and interviewed under caution within days, and the police notified the regulator the next day. Head teacher Sarah Creasey said the case was “deeply upsetting for our school community”, that the staff member’s conduct “represented a serious breach of trust and professional standards” and that the school “fully cooperated with the police investigation”. The criminal proceedings brought a suspended custodial sentence and seven years on the sex offender register. Local news outlets, including MyLondon and London Now, reported the ban in January 2026, noting that he had avoided prison after receiving a suspended sentence; North London News set out the conviction, the sentencing requirements and the ban in a case summary. No public comment from Polden was reported in the published sources.

Current Status

Polden is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The prohibition order, issued on 5 December 2025, carries no provision for a review period, and he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The order takes effect from the date it is served on him, and the published decision states that he had a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days; no appeal has been reported. The TRA published the decision on GOV.UK on 6 January 2026. He was made subject to sex offender notification requirements for seven years at sentencing.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ended Polden’s teaching career in England: he cannot undertake teaching work in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home, and the ban is lifelong because no review period was set. The panel concluded that his behaviour fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher and that he had sought to exploit his position of trust. The decision recorded the judge’s sentencing remark that there was evidence of Polden’s previous positive good character before these events, but found that the public interest in prohibiting him outweighed any interest in retaining him in the profession.

Sources

Teaching Regulation Agency, “Mr David Polden: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome” — source
Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr David Polden” — source
MyLondon, “North London teacher banned from classroom for using school intranet to send pupil sexual messages” — source
London Now, “Former Parliament Hill School teacher banned from profession” — source
North London News, “David Polden: Parliament Hill Teacher Gets Lifetime Ban” — source