Mr Gary Feldman

Introduction

Gary Feldman was an experienced mathematics teacher whose last listed employer was Petty Pool College in Northwich. In March 2025, a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency found that, in a string of job applications between 2023 and 2024, he concealed that he had been dismissed from two schools, giving false and misleading information about his employment history. The panel found his conduct dishonest and lacking integrity, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. On behalf of the Secretary of State, decision maker David Oatley prohibited him from teaching indefinitely.

Background Information

The decision records that Feldman referred to 32 years’ teaching experience in South Africa and six years’ experience in the UK. He worked at The Oaks Academy from 1 September 2022 until his dismissal on 31 January 2023. The panel noted information from the LADO indicating that he had been dismissed for not informing the school of a police investigation into a complaint against him, although the police concluded they were taking no further action. He was then employed at Rudheath Senior Academy, which terminated his employment on 19 January 2024, and thereafter at Petty Pool College from 8 February 2024 until 15 March 2024.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The allegations were set out in a notice of proceedings dated 15 January 2025 and concerned three consecutive job applications. The panel found all of them proved.

First, on or around 30 June 2023, whilst applying for a teaching role at Rudheath Senior Academy, Feldman failed to disclose that he had been dismissed from The Oaks Academy. His application form, which asked whether he had been the subject of formal disciplinary proceedings, was answered “no”, even though the form explained such information was required to ensure safe recruitment and meet obligations to safeguard children.

Second, in or around January 2024, applying for work via Hunter Education, he sent an email dated 30 January 2024 enclosing his C.V., which stated that his “current role” was as a maths teacher with Hilbre High School. In fact his employment at Rudheath Senior Academy had just been terminated, by letter dated 17 January 2024, as from 19 January 2024, and the C.V. also omitted The Oaks Academy. The letter referred to his right to appeal “the decision to dismiss [him].”

Third, in or around February 2024, applying to Petty Pool College, he again omitted that Rudheath Senior Academy had dismissed him. The panel had regard to minutes of a meeting with the college’s vice principal, at which Feldman was asked to explain why he would have left certain employers off his C.V. history.

Feldman admitted the facts throughout. He told the panel he had omitted his dismissals because he feared he would never find work, writing that he was “honestly terrified that I would never be employed” and that “I cannot explain the trauma that it caused in my teaching career as well as my personal life.” The panel was not persuaded that this excused him, finding that the ordinary honest person would have considered that omitting information when applying for a position to conceal the fact of dismissal from a previous post was dishonest. It also noted that, in oral evidence, he disputed the reasons Rudheath Senior Academy gave for dismissing him, which concerned his failure to follow the school’s behaviour policy and low level concerns about teaching standards and behaviour management.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found that the proven facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in breach of the Teachers’ Standards and of the safer recruitment principles in Keeping Children Safe in Education. It found that the conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession” and that the offence type of fraud or serious dishonesty was relevant. Highlighting “The repeated instances of dishonesty over a period of more than a year impacting on the schools’ ability to discharge their safeguarding obligations”, the panel concluded that Feldman had demonstrated little insight and recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect, with a two-year review period. David Oatley, deciding for the Secretary of State, agreed that it was “necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession.”

Current Status

Feldman 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 is dated 21 March 2025, following the virtual hearing on 17 to 18 March 2025. He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 27 March 2027, two years from the date of the order, at the earliest. This is not an automatic right: if he applies, a panel will meet to consider whether the order should be set aside, and without a successful application he remains prohibited indefinitely. He also has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days from the date he is given notice of the order.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ended Feldman’s teaching career in England, barring him from schools, sixth form colleges, relevant youth accommodation and children’s homes for life unless a future panel sets the order aside. He told the panel “I just want to go ahead and teach”, said he was “so deeply sorry to have done the wrong thing”, and wrote of hoping to “re-establish myself as the outstanding teacher I know I am.” The decision maker gave little weight to his decades in the profession, however, finding that a published decision not backed up by insight did not satisfy the public interest in confidence in the profession. Unless he succeeds after March 2027, the ban is permanent.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Gary Feldman” — source