Edward Webb

Introduction

Edward Webb, born 18 October 1964, is a former Design & Technology teacher at Cove School in Farnborough whose career ended over a single DT lesson on 2 May 2023. During that year 10 class, Pupil A’s hair was caught in a pillar drill while it was still live. A Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found Webb had failed to give any or any adequate health and safety instruction throughout the lesson, then told the injured pupil he had warned him about his hair, a claim the panel found to be a false account. On 16 January 2026, decision maker Marc Cavey, on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited Webb from teaching indefinitely.

Background Information

Webb joined Cove School as a DT teacher on 4 June 2020 and was, by the panel’s account, a highly experienced teacher who had previously led a DT department at another school. At school he had completed external health and safety training as recently as 21 April 2023, days before the incident. His evidence was that the department technician’s departure in summer 2022 made practical lessons difficult to manage. The lesson of 2 May 2023 took place in classroom 31, not his usual room, with a year 10 group. The matter was referred to the TRA on 19 October 2023, and a contested virtual hearing ran from 5 to 9 January 2026 before a panel chaired by Ms Amanda Godfrey.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Partly admitted, false account found. Webb admitted the safety lapses of 2 May 2023 but told the pupil he had warned him, a claim the panel dismantled with CCTV and the lesson transcript. The dishonesty label itself was the one finding that failed: the panel found allegation 3, that the false account was dishonest, not proven.

The incident itself was stark. Pupil A caught his hair in a pillar drill while the machine was live. The panel found, with Webb’s admission, that Webb had failed to tell pupils using machinery to wear aprons, tie hair back, tuck in ties or wear goggles, and had allowed pupils to use tools and equipment unsafely, to touch the pillar drill and even to attempt to pull Pupil A’s hair from the live machine. The CCTV transcript contained no mention of tying hair back until after the hair became stuck, when Webb said “this is why you have to be so careful yeah”. The panel found these failures “clearly did contribute to the environment within which Pupil A was injured” and “placed pupils at serious risk and could potentially have led to very serious injury”.

The CCTV footage also showed Webb with, as the panel put it, “many opportunities” to give proper safety instruction, which he “simply, and repeatedly” did not take. Webb’s defence was exhaustion: he had slept roughly three hours over the bank holiday weekend before the lesson and did not recognise the teacher on the footage as himself. He submitted the day was a one-off aberration. The panel noted there was very limited evidence that this class applied basic health and safety standards as a matter of routine, and that Webb acknowledged he had ceased to insist on aprons being used in this class. His mitigation, it found, gave no sufficient justification for a teacher of his knowledge and experience to have so significantly and consistently disregarded basic health and safety requirements.

Allegation 2 concerned what Webb said afterwards. He told Pupil A, in the school’s health and welfare office, “I told you to put your hair up or out the way”. Webb admitted saying the words but denied they were false, saying stress and shock made him misspeak, and that he meant he regularly reminded pupils with long hair in earlier lessons. The panel found he had never instructed Pupil A to tie his hair up, and a Witness C email the next day recorded Pupil A’s reply: “no you didn’t sir”. It found allegation 2 proven: a false account about his conduct during the lesson. But the panel did not find dishonesty proved, noting his position was otherwise consistent, he appeared to have been in shock, and his actions were not shown to be deliberate.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found Webb’s safety failures amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. He was not convicted of any criminal offence, and no criminal charge arises on these facts; the sanction was regulatory. The panel, noting his extensive reflection, remorse and good character references, actually recommended that no prohibition order be made and that publication of the findings would suffice. The case attracted no mainstream press coverage; the TRA’s published decision is the sole public account. Marc Cavey, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, disagreed, giving considerable weight to the grave risk of harm to pupils and finding a prohibition order proportionate and necessary due to the residual risk.

Current Status

Edward Webb 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 prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 23 January 2028, two years from the date of the order at the earliest, and this is not an automatic right: a fresh panel would decide any application. The panel’s determination date was 9 January 2026, the decision was taken by Marc Cavey on 16 January 2026 on behalf of the Secretary of State, and the outcome was published on 4 February 2026. Webb has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A long career in education, including a previous head of department post, closed with the prohibition order. Teaching in any English school is now barred, and the published finding of unacceptable professional conduct follows him into any child-facing work an employer would vet. The panel noted that, were he ever to return to the classroom, he would need to keep health and safety and safeguarding as the absolute principal considerations and seek all available support from colleagues. Any return would first require a successful application to set aside the order from 23 January 2028, with no guarantee of success.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Edward Webb,” published 4 February 2026 — source