Matthew Oyitch

Introduction

Matthew Oyitch is a former teacher at Build A Future Independent School in Boston, Lincolnshire, an independent school for pupils with complex behavioural and developmental needs. In January 2026, a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found that, between September 2020 and January 2021, Oyitch threw stones and eggs at pupils, threw aerosols onto a fire, laughed while a colleague called pupils “window lickers” and “spastics”, and told one or more pupils that he had sex with their mothers. The panel recommended a prohibition order with a three-year review period; the Secretary of State’s decision maker lengthened that to five years, meaning Oyitch cannot apply to have the ban set aside before 20 March 2031.

Background Information

Oyitch was born in April 1995 and joined Build A Future Independent School as a tutor in October 2018, in what witnesses and the panel treated as his first teaching post. The school served learners who had been permanently excluded from mainstream education or needed specialist provision, and Oyitch later wrote that staff there relied on “humour” and a deliberately non-mainstream approach. In January 2021, a police investigation began after anonymous whistleblowing allegations; Oyitch was arrested and stopped teaching on around 28 January 2021. He was never prosecuted. An internal investigation followed in 2022, and the matter was referred to the TRA on 17 November 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings below are regulatory findings made on the balance of probabilities by a TRA professional conduct panel, which heard evidence from four witnesses and considered Oyitch’s police interviews. Oyitch denied most allegations and did not attend the hearing; he was never charged with any criminal offence. Several other allegations — including that he asked a colleague for “black jokes” and used the term “horse fucker” — were found not proven.

The panel heard that the school’s culture included staff “pile-ons” in which pupils were stacked upon by staff and students. Witness B described seeing a colleague lying on Pupil B, “moving his body up and down, simulating having sex”, while Oyitch was present, did not discourage the behaviour and “found it funny”. The panel found Oyitch had allowed that conduct. It also found he threw stones at and near pupils, threw eggs at or near pupils, and both threw and allowed others to throw aerosols onto a fire — conduct the panel said “normalised unsafe behaviour” and posed a clear risk of physical harm. He admitted spraying a fire extinguisher at colleagues.

The proved language allegations were extensive: Oyitch called Pupil F “fat tits”, referred to pupils as “mong” and “mong face”, allowed a colleague to call pupils “window lickers”, “spastics” and “soft cunts” while he laughed, and said “special bastard” and “retard” around pupils. Most seriously, the panel concluded “that Mr Oyitch did tell one or more pupils that he had sex with their mothers”, a finding it described as sexualised remarks directed at children amounting to “exceptionally serious misconduct”. He also jointly filled a colleague’s water bottle with dirt and hung it out of her reach, found to be bullying of a colleague.

In his written statement, Oyitch said he had “always considered himself a good person”, pointed to charity fundraising, noted he was never prosecuted, and argued that the school’s non-mainstream environment “could be misconstrued as wrongdoing when judged against mainstream educational standards”. The panel accepted witnesses B and D as credible, found his explanation reflected “immaturity” and that he had been “naïvely drawn into, and influenced by, the prevailing culture of the School”, and found the proven conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct with a failure to safeguard pupils.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequences unfolded through the criminal, employment and regulatory systems without ever reaching a courtroom. Oyitch was arrested in January 2021 and ceased teaching immediately, but the Crown Prosecution Service never brought charges — a point he stressed in his defence. His school career ended with the arrest. The TRA hearing, convened virtually over two weeks in January 2026, proceeded in his absence. The panel found the public interest in safeguarding pupils and maintaining confidence in the profession outweighed any interest in retaining him, since his behaviour “fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher”.

Current Status

Oyitch is prohibited from teaching indefinitely. The panel recommended a three-year review period, citing his “emerging degree of insight”, the absence of safeguarding training, and the five years already elapsed. The Secretary of State’s decision maker, Marc Cavey, disagreed on 19 February 2026: the “very serious nature of the misconduct”, the lack of full insight and the risk of repetition required five years. Oyitch may apply for the order to be set aside “but not until 20 March 2031”. The decision was published on GOV.UK on 1 April 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Oyitch’s teaching career ended with his January 2021 arrest and has now been formally closed off: a lifetime ban unless he persuades a panel after March 2031 that he has developed full insight. The panel noted he had been rated a “Good” teacher, contributed to the school’s “Good” Ofsted rating, and helped pupils into college placements — but found that “if his first experience in a school setting had been different, he might have developed more appropriate professional standards”. With the right training, it judged his risk of repetition low — a judgment that earned him a review date, not a reprieve.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Matthew Oyitch,” published 1 April 2026 — source