Shivarna Mitra
Introduction
Shivarna Mitra is a former teacher at Southmere Primary Academy in Bradford who was banned from teaching for life after a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found she had obtained the job through a false application, a forged QTLS certificate and fake references, all built to conceal a 2009 conviction for two counts of fraud. She admitted every particular in a signed statement of agreed facts. The panel found unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and conviction of a relevant offence. On 16 December 2021 the Secretary of State’s decision maker prohibited her from teaching indefinitely, with no entitlement to apply for restoration.
Background Information
Mitra, born 14 August 1982, applied for employment at Southmere Primary Academy, referred to in the decision as the School, on 15 November 2017 and was interviewed there on 23 November 2017. The application carried a declaration that its information was true; the panel later found it contained a considerable amount of false information about her employment history and her conviction. She was employed for some months before officials, having hit difficulties verifying her teaching status, asked for her full work history in July 2018 and informed her there would be an investigation. The TRA panel convened virtually on 13 December 2021.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Allegations. In December 2021 a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found that Ms Mitra obtained a primary-school teaching job through a false application, a forged QTLS certificate and fake references, and concealed a 2009 conviction for two counts of fraud. She admitted every particular in a statement of agreed facts; the panel found serious dishonesty over a significant period, with attempts to cover it up.
On 14 January 2009, at Leeds District Magistrates Court, Mitra was convicted of two counts of fraud by false representation, committed on 23 August and 25 September 2007 contrary to sections 1(2)(a) and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, and sentenced to a 12-month community order with 100 hours’ unpaid work and a £2,537 compensation order. Then a sales consultant at Company A, she faxed its payroll section purporting to be a legitimate employee to redirect wages into her own bank account, gaining £2,537.41; a second fax followed on 25 September 2007. She initially denied fraud, then admitted it, citing a dispute over expenses, and pleaded guilty.
The concealment came years later. Her application falsely stated her current employer, her job title as Head of Key Stage 2, her grade, and her previous employer and roles; the previous employer was in fact an after-school club, and she had not held the roles claimed. She also gave a false account of her conviction, describing money accepted from a partner said to be a work bonus and claiming she had acted honestly, and corrected none of it when interviewed on 23 November 2017. Between around November 2017 and October 2018 she caused or allowed a certificate to be provided to the School which purported to be a QTLS award from the Society for Education and Training; it was a forgery. She also caused or allowed a reference dated 15 November 2017 and emails of 1 December 2017, 21 July 2018 and 23 July 2018, purportedly from another person, Person A, confirming her false employment and qualifications. The School could not verify that Person A exists; the panel found the emails appear to have been sent or arranged to have been sent by her.
Mitra admitted all particulars in a statement of agreed facts signed on 1 July 2021, and at her request the case was considered without a hearing. The panel found each particular proven, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and conviction of a relevant offence. It identified a pre-meditated, dishonest course of conduct designed to obtain and retain a teaching role for which she was neither qualified nor suitable, calling it “serious dishonesty over a significant period of time in respect of which there were attempts to cover it up”, and noting “The panel has seen no evidence from Ms Mitra of any insight or remorse”.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Mitra lost the teaching role the scheme was designed to secure: the panel found her actions undermined the integrity of the School’s recruitment process and resulted in an unqualified and unsuitable candidate in the role. No further criminal proceedings arose from the 2017 to 2018 conduct; the criminal matter on the record remained the 2009 convictions and the sentence imposed for them. Aggravating features included convictions for serious dishonesty, pre-meditated actions over a prolonged period involving repeated acts of dishonesty, no insight, and the recruitment of an unsuitable and unqualified person. Apart from her previously unblemished regulatory history, the panel found no mitigating circumstances, and she submitted no character references or testimonials. Publication of the findings alone, it concluded, would unacceptably compromise the public interest, and it recommended prohibition with immediate effect.
Current Status
On 16 December 2021 Sarah Buxcey, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited Mitra from teaching indefinitely with no review period, deciding that in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved she shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach. She 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 her, with a right of appeal to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice. The decision maker found the fraud, dishonesty and lack of either insight or remorse meant even a two-year review period would not maintain public confidence in the profession.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The prohibition order ended Mitra’s teaching career permanently, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration. The panel heard no evidence about whether she wished to teach or in support of her ability as a teacher, and found no public interest in retaining her in the profession. The 2009 convictions remain on her criminal record alongside the published regulatory findings. No public response from Mitra beyond her signed statement of agreed facts is recorded in the decision.
Sources
- TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Ms Shivarna Mitra” — source