Mr Tom Carson

Introduction

Mr Tom Carson was Chaplain at Exeter School in Devon from September 2015, undertaking some teaching duties alongside the pastoral role, and had obtained qualified teacher status in 2006. In March 2024 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency considered his case without a hearing, on a signed statement of agreed facts, and found all six allegations against him proved: that between January and August 2021 he developed an inappropriate, sexually motivated relationship with a pupil referred to as Pupil A; that he failed to properly record and report safeguarding information and failed to take steps to safeguard Pupil A after disclosures; and that in August 2021 he dishonestly pressed Pupil A to delete messages and to give an edited account of the relationship. On 2 April 2024, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, David Oatley prohibited Mr Carson from teaching indefinitely, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.

Background Information

The panel convened virtually on 27 March 2024. The TRA had agreed to Mr Carson’s request that the allegations be considered without a hearing, and the panel did not think a hearing necessary in the interests of justice or the public interest; the case was decided at a private meeting attended by neither the presenting officer nor Mr Carson. His statement of agreed facts, signed on 23 November 2023, admitted the allegations in full and accepted that they amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Pupil A had been referred to Mr Carson for pastoral support in October 2019, and he met Pupil A regularly to provide support from that date. On 11 August 2021 Mr Carson wrote to the school’s Headteacher explaining that he had developed an inappropriate relationship with Pupil A — stating “it was a good pastoral relationship gone badly wrong” — setting out a chronology of his contact, tendering his resignation and stating that his actions amounted to gross misconduct. The panel also noted his application to restrict published information to protect third parties, which fell to the decision maker rather than the panel.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted misconduct. Mr Tom Carson admitted the allegations in a signed statement of agreed facts considered by a Teaching Regulation Agency panel. The panel found all six proved, amounting to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute: an inappropriate relationship with Pupil A between January and August 2021 that was sexually motivated; failures to record, report and act on safeguarding information in late 2020 and January 2021; and dishonesty in August 2021 in seeking to influence Pupil A to give a limited account of the relationship.

The agreed facts were that Mr Carson exchanged personal messages with Pupil A by text and WhatsApp, including coded messages used to conceal his actions; that he met Pupil A alone away from school premises without the knowledge of the school or Pupil A’s parents, because he had developed personal feelings for Pupil A; and that on those occasions there was physical contact including hugging, holding hands and kissing, together with sexual contact. He admitted the conduct was done in pursuit of both a future sexual relationship and sexual gratification, and the panel found his admissions unequivocal and consistent with the surrounding evidence, including a separate bundle of 359 pages of WhatsApp communications.

The safeguarding allegations were admitted in full. In November 2020 Pupil A disclosed a matter to him; he spoke to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead without identifying Pupil A and accepted he failed to record the information anywhere, so the school could take no steps to keep Pupil A appropriately safeguarded. The panel called this a particularly dangerous failure and a purposeful and active decision to step outside the safeguarding protocol. On 8 January 2021 Pupil A made a further disclosure, and he accepted he told neither the school nor Pupil A’s parents before an incident on 16 January 2021; by then, the panel noted, he could have been under no other apprehension than that Pupil A was an exceptionally vulnerable pupil.

In August 2021, once informing the school had become a live prospect, he asked Pupil A to delete emails between them on the school account and text messages, and said he would tell the school only that they had kissed, suggesting Pupil A say the same. Pupil A explained feeling under pressure not to give a full account. Mr Carson admitted this was dishonest — an attempt to secure an edited account to limit embarrassment to himself, his family and Pupil A — and accepted that the ordinary decent person would regard it as dishonest, which the panel found proved.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found breaches of the Teachers’ Standards on treating pupils with dignity and observing proper boundaries, on safeguarding pupils’ wellbeing, and on having proper regard for school policies and statutory frameworks. It held this was not a momentary lapse of judgment but a sustained course of conduct in which the needs of an extremely vulnerable pupil were exploited ultimately for his own sexual gratification, including manipulating others, such as Pupil A’s mother, into trusting him; his actions “crossed the boundary by the widest mark” and were an egregious breach of trust. The public, it observed, would be shocked to find a regulator taking no action where a teacher had exploited his professional position to enter a sexualised relationship with a pupil. It recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no review period, serious sexual misconduct and serious dishonesty each weighing against one.

Current Status

On 2 April 2024 David Oatley decided on behalf of the Secretary of State that Mr Tom Carson is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He placed considerable weight on the seriousness of the findings, which included an inappropriate relationship with a pupil and dishonest conduct, and on the panel’s conclusion that there was little evidence of considered remorse or insight — which, in his judgement, meant some risk of repetition putting pupils’ future wellbeing at risk. In view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved, Mr Carson is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The order takes effect from the date it is served, with a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition is permanent in practical terms: no review period and no route to restoration. The panel acknowledged that Mr Carson had no adverse regulatory history and engaged in the regulatory process, and that he self-reported his conduct to the school and Pupil A’s mother — but it found his admissions came somewhat later in the chain of events, after he had attempted to coerce Pupil A into not revealing information, that there was little reflection on his actions towards others, particularly Pupil A’s mother, and no material evidence of steps to ensure the misconduct would not happen again.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Tom Carson” — source