Stuart Smith

Introduction

Stuart Smith was a PE teacher at Mayville High School in Portsmouth who held pastoral roles including Head of Cavell House. In April 2026, a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found he had developed an over-familiar relationship with a pupil referred to as Pupil A: personal WhatsApp messages, photographs kept on a personal device, a bracelet bought on a school trip and, on the flight home, contact found to include rubbing her thigh under a blanket. He was banned from teaching indefinitely, able to apply for the order to be set aside no earlier than 2029.

Background Information

Smith joined Mayville High School as a PE teacher on 20 April 2020. He became Head of Cavell House in January 2021, Assistant Head of UV (Year 11) from November 2021, and a career co-ordinator in January 2023. He taught Pupil A from Year 8 to Year 11.

The matter surfaced when Pupil A disclosed the messages and the alleged incident to Pupil B, and later told Person E. On 11 October 2023, Smith was arrested by police on suspicion of sexual assault and suspended by the school the same day. The TRA received a referral on 20 October 2023; on 14 December 2023 the police investigation closed with no further action. Smith resigned on 31 December 2023, and a school disciplinary meeting on 3 January 2024 concluded that he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings below are regulatory, made on the balance of probabilities by a TRA panel at an in-person hearing at Cheylesmore House, Coventry, in April 2026. They are findings of professional misconduct — not criminal findings; the decision records an arrest on suspicion of sexual assault after which the police investigation closed with no further action, and no criminal charge is mentioned in the published decision. The outcome was mixed: allegations 1, 2(a), 2(b), 3, 4, 5(c), 7, 8 and 9 were found proved; the alleged “naked” remark (5(a)), the “needed to get that image out of his head” remark (5(b)) and sexual motivation (6) were not.

Smith admitted the particulars of allegations 1, 2(a), 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9; he denied the rest and did not attend the hearing to give oral evidence. During a school trip, he told Pupil A she could call her parents from his phone and to enter her own number alongside theirs, giving no reason why. A message he sent her on the trip read: “Well I’m going to keep telling you how amazing you are which will in turn raise your expectations, because I honestly believe you can do absolutely anything. You are going to be amazing, you are [Pupil A] and this is your world now.” After the trip the messaging continued: “I’ve got loads of you on my phone and there are no bad ones, you look great in all of them”, and “I’m your friend [Pupil A]”.

On the return flight, Pupil A became upset and Smith sat next to her, telling her she could put her legs over his. The panel found he then covered her legs with a blanket and rubbed and/or touched her thigh; Pupil A described that he rubbed the inside of her right thigh in a circular motion and said she felt shocked. The panel preferred her “persuasive and consistent” evidence over his claim that his hands stayed on top of the blanket. It also found proved that he kept photographs of Pupil A on a personal device against school policy — his use of a “shhh” emoji, the panel said, showed he knew it was inappropriate — and that he bought her a fabric bracelet. It further found he told her he was not in a good way and/or had suicidal thoughts; Pupil B said Pupil A’s biggest worry was that he would kill himself if she stopped messaging. He also failed to report the developing relationship to the Designated Safeguarding Lead. Findings that he exchanged numbers with one or more pupils and exchanged messages with Pupil B were proved but did not, in isolation, amount to unacceptable professional conduct.

The panel found the sexual-motivation allegation not proven. Applying the Basson v GMC [2018] test — conduct done in pursuit of sexual gratification or a sexual relationship — it held the messages lacked sexual content and that plausible alternative motives existed for the flight contact and the suicidal-talk findings: comforting Pupil A in a “wholly inappropriate and improper way”, and seeking emotional support from her.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found the conduct at allegations 1, 2(a), 2(b), 3, 5(c) and 7 amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The messaging placed pressure on Pupil A, who said she felt she had to reply “through fear of his mental health” and now finds it “very hard to trust people”; the proved conduct involved “repeated and serious professional boundary failures and safeguarding-related omissions”, and Smith “sought to exploit his position of trust”. Noting some regret, including that he had “got things wrong”, the panel found “very limited insight” and a substantial risk of repetition, recommending prohibition with immediate effect and a three-year review period. The Secretary of State agreed, giving considerable weight to the lack of insight.

Current Status

The panel sat from 13 to 17 April 2026; decision maker David Oatley signed the decision on behalf of the Secretary of State on 20 April 2026. Smith, who was not present or represented at the hearing, 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 order to be set aside, but not until 2029 — three years from the order — and this is not an automatic right. He has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order. The outcome was published on 14 May 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends Smith’s teaching career in England. His 27 years coaching and teaching sport — “For 27 years all I’ve done is coach and teach sport,” he said — ended with his December 2023 resignation. No criminal charge followed the arrest. The decision remains a permanent, searchable public record; any return application cannot be made before 2029.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Stuart Smith,” published 14 May 2026 — source