Rafiqul Islam

Introduction

Rafiqul Islam is a former teacher at Friern Barnet School in London who has been banned from teaching indefinitely after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found he sent a 16-year-old pupil an Instagram message declaring his love for her and envisaging a life together. The panel found all five allegations against him proven, including that he had called the pupil cute, said he loved her, and failed to report his belief that she had feelings for him, and that his conduct was sexually motivated. Islam denied the allegations but accepted sending the message. On 1 July 2026, decision maker Stuart Blomfield, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited him from teaching with no review period and no right to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Islam, born 17 March 1992, was employed as a maths teacher at Friern Barnet School between 2 July 2020 and 15 July 2022. The case arose from a message he sent to a pupil, referred to as Pupil A, on Instagram during the night of 13 June 2022. He had, on his own account, developed a crush on her from July 2021 and believed from January 2022 at the latest that she liked him, but never raised this through the school’s safeguarding system. Pupil A reported the message to the school on 14 June 2022, and Islam resigned a month later.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. In July 2026 a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found that Mr Islam sent a 16-year-old pupil an Instagram declaration of love envisaging a life together, told her she was “cute” and failed to report his belief that she had feelings for him, as safeguarding rules required. He denied the allegations but accepted sending the message; the panel found every allegation proven and the conduct sexually motivated. He resigned; no criminal proceedings are mentioned in the decision.

The message was sent in several parts because of the platform’s character limit, after Islam had first drafted it as a printed letter he could not build up the courage to hand over. In it he wrote “the more I learnt about you the deeper my love became” and “It wasn’t the normal type of love, but the Edward Cullen type of love”. He told her “Despite how much I love my career, I would sacrifice it all if you want to be together”, and the message envisaged resigning that May to take up a post at another school and even starting a life elsewhere. It ended “I love you [Pupil A] and I really hope we can be together, as this would make me the happiest man alive”.

Pupil A saw the message at 8am on 14 June 2022, in the middle of her exams, and came to a school witness distressed, with her mother. She had had no private messages from him before, and it came unexpectedly. Islam admitted sending the message but denied the other allegations, arguing before the panel that re-inserting the line spacing between the message’s constituent parts changed its interpretation, an argument the panel rejected. In his witness statement he accepted “telling her I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her”. The panel found that he had known by January 2022 at the latest that he believed Pupil A liked him, and had failed to report it despite knowing the school’s MyConcern safeguarding system and the policy that staff report even when unsure. It found no plausible innocent explanation for his conduct, and concluded that what he pursued was a sexual relationship within the meaning of the relevant case law, a marriage falling within that definition.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Islam resigned on 15 July 2022 and the matter was referred to the TRA on 13 October 2022. The panel sat at Cheylesmore House, Coventry, on 24 to 26 February 2026 and 13 April 2026, and online on 26 June 2026, with Islam present and not represented. It found the proven facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, though it did not find that the facts proven under the assembly-comment allegation amounted to unacceptable professional conduct, and the Secretary of State put that allegation entirely from his mind. The decision records that Pupil A was distressed and shocked at a pivotal point in her schooling, that her parents were shocked and angered, and that she felt let down and betrayed. No criminal proceedings are mentioned in the decision.

Current Status

On 1 July 2026 Stuart Blomfield, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, concluded that a prohibition order was proportionate and in the public interest, placing considerable weight on the finding of sexually motivated conduct towards a child and on the panel’s conclusions about Islam’s lack of insight and remorse. Mr Islam is prohibited from teaching indefinitely, with no review period, and is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. This means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The order takes effect from the date it is served on him, and he has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of it.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends Islam’s teaching career in England for life, with no route back through review or restoration. The panel found he had demonstrated a highly concerning lack of insight into the seriousness and wholly unacceptable nature of his actions, and noted a repeated pattern of blaming Pupil A for his conduct. Although he apologised and pointed to four years of reflection and to positive comments from students, the panel did not find his expressions of remorse plausible in context, and the decision maker gave his contribution to the profession less weight as a result. No criminal proceedings are mentioned in the decision.

Sources

• TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Rafiqul Islam” — source