Tom Field
Introduction
Tom Field taught at Ursuline College in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, from 1 January 2005 until his resignation on 2 July 2023. In the days after pupils completed their final exam in June 2023, he invited a group of them to a pub and drove them home, then took one pupil — Pupil A — to his house on two separate occasions, engaging in sexual intercourse on the first visit and sexual activity on the second. A Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found every allegation against him proved in August 2025, and the decision maker acting for the Secretary of State imposed an indefinite prohibition order with no review period, barring Field from teaching for life.
Background Information
Field had spent more than eighteen years at the school when the case emerged. In February 2023 he accompanied a school trip, and a WhatsApp group set up for the trip gave him the personal phone numbers of pupils, including Pupil A. On 30 June 2023 Pupil A disclosed to a member of staff that Field had engaged in sexual activity with them at his home. When a senior school leader telephoned Field on 1 July 2023, he admitted during the call that sexual activity had occurred; a full account the next day revealed a second instance. Field resigned on 2 July 2023, and the TRA received a referral on 26 September 2023. He requested that the case be decided without a hearing, signing a statement of agreed facts on 14 January 2025 in which he admitted the facts and that they amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
A pub trip, a textbook email, and two visits to the teacher’s home.
On 20 June 2023, after the final exam, Field took four pupils to a local pub, drove two of them there, and later dropped three at their homes, leaving Pupil A until last. He admitted he had not sought the school’s permission to take pupils to the pub or to transport them in his car, and no risk assessment was carried out. That night, at 23:39, Pupil A emailed him: “Forgot to give back my [REDACTED] textbook, I’m going to have to run in tomorrow and give it back to you. When do you have a free lesson so I can come then?” Field replied the next morning, suggesting the end of period 2. When Pupil A came in to return the books on 21 June, Field drove the pupil from the school site — leaving at 11:18am — to his home address, where, by his own admission in the statement of agreed facts, he engaged in sexual intercourse. Pupil A later said: “I never said no, but I felt like it was wrong”.
On 26 June 2023, Field contacted Pupil A to arrange to meet outside school. He collected the pupil at about 9:30am, having called in sick to work, and took the pupil to his house, where sexual activity took place. Pupil A’s account was that “I just wanted it to end”. Field told the school’s investigation that “we did fool around a bit, but didn’t have sex”; the panel found sexual activity proved on the balance of probabilities.
On sexual motivation, the panel cited the Basson test that “A sexual motive means that the conduct was done either in pursuit of sexual gratification or in pursuit of a sexual relationship”, and the Haris judgment that “In the absence of a plausible innocent explanation for what he did, the facts spoke for themselves. A sexual motive was plainly more likely than not; I would go so far as to say that that inference was overwhelming.” Finding no innocent explanation, the panel concluded Field’s conduct was sexually motivated. It noted that during the school’s investigation he had said of dropping Pupil A home after the pub: “Well before [REDACTED] got out of the car, I told [REDACTED] that I’d like to have sex with [REDACTED].”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case is documented only through the regulatory record; the published decision contains no press coverage. The panel found the proven facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, breaching the Teachers’ Standards on treating pupils with dignity and observing proper boundaries, and amounting to serious breaches of the school’s safeguarding and code-of-conduct policies. Although Field’s written statement described him as “sorry, regretful and ashamed of his actions”, the panel found he had demonstrated limited insight and remorse, noting his claim that Pupil A “makes out that [he] was the chief and sole pursuer/orchestrator”, which the panel saw as an attempt to deflect responsibility. It recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period. On 26 August 2025 Sarah Buxcey, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, imposed the order, removing Field from the teaching register in England.
Current Status
Field is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and 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 was served on him. Because the decision maker set no review period and decided that Field “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”, the ban is permanent, with no route back to the classroom. The determination followed the panel meeting of 21 August 2025, held virtually and without a hearing, and was signed by the decision maker on 26 August 2025. As with all prohibition orders, Field had a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A teaching career of more than eighteen years ended with Field’s resignation on 2 July 2023, and the prohibition order forecloses any return. The panel found he had “seriously exploited his position of trust as a teacher”, identified “a sustained and concerning pattern of conduct” towards Pupil A, and saw a potential risk of repetition given his limited insight. The decision maker gave little weight to his contribution to the profession, concluding that a published decision “not backed up by full insight or remorse” could not satisfy the public interest in confidence in the profession. Field remains barred from teaching in England for the rest of his working life.