William Garwood

Introduction

William Garwood is a supply teacher who was banned from the teaching profession indefinitely after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) misconduct panel ruled that he was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. Garwood, who was 60 years old when the case was reported, was working at St Mary’s Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy in West Yorkshire when, during a Year 11 history lesson on 5 October 2023, he told pupils that gay and transgender people were mentally ill and made comments justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to findings reported by the BBC on 14 July 2026. The panel also found proven an allegation that he told pupils billionaires were responsible for transgender people, and found that during the lesson he described Ukrainians as “Nazis” and “evil”. The sanction prohibits him from teaching and bars any application to have it lifted until June 2032.

Background Information

Public information about Garwood is limited to the TRA proceedings and the press coverage of them. The BBC reported that he was working as a supply teacher at St Mary’s Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy, in West Yorkshire, at the time of the incident, and that he was 60 years old; uknip described the case as arising from a Year 11 history lesson at the academy in October 2023. The remarks came during a lesson on Nazi Germany, and the panel found that they were made after Garwood was asked “are there any just wars?” by one of his pupils. The remarks he made in response, and the events that followed the lesson, became the subject of the TRA investigation that led to the prohibition.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. Garwood’s prohibition is a matter of regulatory record, not a criminal conviction: a Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel found the allegations below proved and ruled that he was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct, and no criminal charge or prosecution appears in the coverage. Garwood disputed the case against him: he denied giving an opinion on gay people, said the pupils had misunderstood him, called the investigation politically motivated, and asserted that his religious belief in Islam and his philosophical belief of anti-Nazism were protected under Section 10 of the Equality Act 2010 — contentions the panel dismissed.

The panel found that the remarks were made on 5 October 2023, during the Year 11 history lesson on Nazi Germany, after a pupil asked whether there were any just wars. Garwood described Ukrainians as “Nazis” and “evil”.

The panel also found proven an allegation that he told the Year 11 pupils that gay and transgender people were “mentally ill”, and a further allegation that he told pupils billionaires were responsible for transgender people. uknip additionally reported that Garwood made comments defending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and that a pupil said he claimed President Putin was targeting “satanic Nazis” in Ukraine, that he was “happy” about it, and that he alleged global control by billionaires behind “evil Ukrainians”.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found that Garwood’s conduct was inappropriate, discriminatory and failed to show respect or tolerance for people with different beliefs. It said it had “considered the age of the students to be a pertinent factor, noting that they were likely to be at an age where they could be particularly susceptible to influence from a teacher’s comments”.

It concluded that “as a teacher Mr Garwood should have been acting as a role model to pupils at all times”, and that in making comments of an inappropriate and discriminatory nature he “fell significantly short of the standards expected of him”.

uknip reported that the TRA panel found Garwood’s statements were unrelated to the curriculum and condemned his sweeping generalisations and discriminatory views, highlighting the absence of balanced or alternative perspectives, in breach of the professional conduct expected of teachers. The upshot of the findings was an indefinite prohibition from teaching: Garwood is banned from the classroom, and he is barred from applying to have the sanction lifted until June 2032. The panel also dismissed his claims that the investigation was politically motivated and that the pupils had misunderstood him, stressing the harm his remarks could cause to pupils and their unsuitability in an educational setting.

Current Status

As of the July 2026 reporting, Garwood is banned from teaching indefinitely. Under the sanction, he cannot apply to have the prohibition set aside until June 2032, roughly six years after the ban was imposed, and neither report records any appeal or challenge to the panel’s decision. His arguments that his Islam and anti-Nazism qualified as protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010 were rejected by the panel, which ruled that he fell short of the professional standards expected of a teacher. No criminal proceedings against him are recorded in either account of the case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition effectively ends Garwood’s career in the classroom, where he had been working as a supply teacher covering lessons at St Mary’s Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy. In written representations to the panel, he “stated that ‘I did not give an opinion on gays, but asserted that I am a Muslim and that the position is known’”. He also asserted that he was entitled to his religious belief in Islam and to his philosophical belief of anti-Nazism, which he said were protected under Section 10 of the Equality Act 2010. The panel rejected those arguments and found his conduct inappropriate and discriminatory. The earliest point at which he can seek to return to teaching is June 2032, meaning the ban will have stood for the better part of a decade before it can even be reconsidered.