Susan Avizius

Introduction

Susan Avizius is a former art teacher and head of art who was banned from teaching after being found under the influence of alcohol on school premises at two schools, then concealing that history to get a new job. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found in January 2026 that in March 2022, while Head of Art at Ibstock Place School, she brought alcohol onto the premises and was under its influence during school hours; that in November 2024, at St John’s School in Leatherhead, she was again under the influence at work; and that she dishonestly omitted Ibstock Place from her application and hid the TRA proceedings against her. The Secretary of State softened the panel’s recommended lifetime-without-review ban to a five-year review period, set aside no earlier than 9 February 2031.

Background Information

Avizius, born in 1974, had a disciplinary history that predated the findings: Notre Dame School dismissed her in August 2019 over consuming and possessing alcohol, after a final written warning in November 2018 for being under the influence at work. She joined Ibstock Place School as Head of Art on 1 January 2021. On 3 March 2022, a colleague reported she smelled of “vodka”; a water bottle in her belongings was found to carry a strong smell of alcohol that evening, with one witness conceding she might have been “cleaning brushes in white spirit” while “also being quite weird”. Her Ibstock Place employment ended on 3 May 2022. In October 2022 she began at St John’s School via an agency, applying formally that December and joining in January 2023.

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 on contested evidence. Avizius denied bringing alcohol onto the premises and made no admissions on several allegations; the panel found allegations 5(a)-(c) not proven. No criminal proceedings are involved.

At St John’s, the pattern repeated. On 14 November 2024, during school hours, a staff member found Avizius in the pupils’ lunch area appearing unwell; Witness E “thought that Ms Avizius was under the influence of alcohol” and colleagues asked her directly, “I am sorry to ask this, but have you drunk any alcohol today?” — to which she replied, “Why do you think I would be drinking?” She offered that “maybe she’s been cleaning brushes in white spirit”, and was described as “still a little bit unsteady on her feet”. On 2 December 2024 a similar episode occurred at 6.15pm. St John’s referred her to the TRA on 22 January 2025.

The dishonesty finding went to her job application: the panel found “that Ms Avizius had provided false information and that she had knowingly failed to complete the application form to include her previous employer, Ibstock Place School”, and that she failed to disclose she was subject to ongoing TRA proceedings — while listing her Notre Dame dismissal, which created a false impression of openness about her alcohol history. Applying Ivey, the panel found her “extremely dishonest in concealing this information and… dishonest about her sobriety”. It noted a “recurring pattern of behaviours which had shown no evidence of improvement”, three schools taking disciplinary action, and a previous TRA finding for alcohol-related offences. It recommended a prohibition order with no review period.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Two schools dismissed or terminated her within three years, and the second hiring collapsed into regulatory proceedings when the concealed first one surfaced. The panel found her misconduct involved dishonesty, recurring intoxication at school and risk of harm to pupils, and that she had shown little insight — noting she “had been dishonest during St John’s School’s investigation which… undermined any remorse or insight shown”. The decision maker agreed the case was serious but departed from the panel on sanction.

Current Status

The panel’s determination is dated 29 January 2026, recommending no review period. The Secretary of State’s decision maker, David Oatley, concluded on 3 February 2026 that “not offering a review period is not proportionate” — since her misconduct lacked the characteristics the official Advice says weigh against any review — and set a five-year review period instead. Avizius is prohibited from teaching indefinitely; she may apply for the order to be set aside “but not until 9 February 2031”, and only if she can demonstrate full insight, remorse and concrete steps against repetition. The decision was published on GOV.UK on 25 February 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Avizius’s teaching career, already fractured by the 2019 Notre Dame dismissal, is now closed until at least 2031 — and reopening it requires proving what the panel found absent: insight into a decade-long pattern. The case’s defining fact is the concealment: the panel treated her dishonesty about Ibstock Place and the TRA proceedings as the most serious element, converting an alcohol-misconduct case into a dishonesty case with a five-year price.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Ms Susan Avizius,” published 25 February 2026 — source