Tina Digby

Introduction

Tina Digby is a former teacher at Colnbrook Church of England Primary School in Slough whose career ended in July 2026, when a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found that she had been unfit to teach through alcohol at school and had then deliberately concealed from her employer that she was already under TRA investigation, a non-disclosure the panel found dishonest. Two further alcohol allegations, from February 2024, were not proved. Digby denied the allegations, did not attend the hearing and was not represented. On the panel’s recommendation, Stuart Blomfield, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, prohibited her from teaching indefinitely with a four-year review period.

Background Information

Digby, born 3 June 1979 and registered under teacher reference number 0638480, joined Colnbrook Church of England Primary School as a teacher in September 2023. The case that ended her career had two strands: her conduct at the school, and what she withheld on arrival. In or around May 2023, while working through a supply agency at a school unconnected to the proceedings, a concern was raised with the local authority designated officer, and by 24 August 2023 the TRA had written to Digby notifying her that it was investigating allegations against her. She took up the Colnbrook post weeks later without disclosing those proceedings.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. In July 2026 a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found that Miss Digby was unfit to teach through alcohol at a Slough primary school in October 2023 and then deliberately failed to disclose to the school that she was already under TRA investigation — a non-disclosure the panel found dishonest. Two further alcohol allegations, from February 2024, were not proved. She denied the allegations and did not attend the hearing.

The central incident came on 4 October 2023. A colleague who met Digby at about 9.25am to go through feedback on her work described her as slurring her words, covering her mouth and having glazed eyes, and said the smell of alcohol on her was “pungent”. Digby attributed the smell to two large glasses of wine she said she had drunk around midnight the night before. The member of staff who then spoke with her judged her unfit to remain at school and sent her home for the day, having raised concerns for the safety of pupils and her ability to safeguard them; the panel accepted this was a genuine concern. The school sought advice from the local authority designated officer and gave Digby informal management advice, confirmed in a letter. During those conversations the LADO disclosed that she was already subject to ongoing TRA proceedings predating her employment. The panel was not told what those earlier allegations were.

Two further allegations followed in February 2024: that Digby smelled of alcohol and was staggering at an afternoon pupil disco on 6 February, and that she smelled of alcohol part way through a staff meeting on 22 February. The school began a disciplinary investigation into the first, but the panel found neither allegation proved, concluding she was not unfit to teach on either date. The disciplinary investigation concluded on 13 June 2024.

The proved non-disclosure ran underneath all of this. The panel was satisfied Digby knew of the ongoing TRA proceedings when she started at the school, whose code of conduct required staff to notify any ongoing investigation. She acknowledged the proceedings only after the LADO had told the school, and told her head teacher they were closed, though the correspondence she had received said the TRA was continuing to investigate. The panel found she had made a deliberate decision not to tell the school, applying the standards of ordinary decent people, and that the non-disclosure was dishonest and lacking in integrity. The panel convened by virtual hearing from 13 to 17 July 2026; Digby was not present and was not represented.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Digby was sent home on 4 October 2023 and received informal management advice; the decision records no dismissal or resignation, only that the school’s disciplinary investigation concluded on 13 June 2024. The panel found the proved conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, breaching the Teachers’ Standards and safeguarding guidance, and found the offence of serious dishonesty relevant. It saw no evidence of insight or remorse, noting that she had dismissed the earlier proceedings as unimportant and chose not to take part in the hearing. No mainstream press coverage of the case has been located; the published decision is the public record.

Current Status

On 17 July 2026, Stuart Blomfield, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited Digby from teaching indefinitely. The order means she cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The panel had recommended a four-year review period, finding that the dishonesty element linked to her deliberate failure to disclose the ongoing TRA proceedings was serious, writing that “This seriousness was compounded by Miss Digby’s disregard for the importance of these proceedings”, and “considered that a shorter review period would not be appropriate in the circumstances.” She failed, the panel added, to recognise the seriousness of the school’s concern about her fitness to teach, a concern “serious enough to send her home in order to safeguard the pupils”. She may apply for the order to be set aside but not until 24 July 2030, and this is not an automatic right.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends Digby’s teaching career in England for at least four years and potentially permanently, since setting it aside requires a successful application to a fresh panel. The findings are regulatory, not criminal; the decision records no charge or conviction. The panel could not determine that she would not repeat the conduct and saw no evidence of insight or remorse. Beyond her correspondence with the TRA and the school’s investigation, no public response from Digby is recorded.

Sources

• TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Miss Tina Digby” — source