Teaching watchdog bans physics teacher for life after he groomed a sixth-former and asked her 'you're not gonna tell anyone are you'

It began with a farewell card. Days after Pupil A finished her exams in July 2019, Mark Fletcher, who had taught at Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College in Swindon since 2009, hid a typed letter inside telling her 'it is rare to meet someone who changes who you are'. Emails followed at 2:38am, 3:50am and 4:04am, which he later called 'wholly platonic', before he drove to her home at 1am and the pair talked in his car until 6am.

Former pupil said teacher Mark Fletcher's attention felt 'flattering at the time' and made her feel special.

'Good, I trust you,' teacher Mark Fletcher replied after she promised secrecy, which the panel ruled deliberately dishonest.

Disclosure came only in June 2023; Stuart Blomfield, the Secretary of State's decision-maker, confirmed the prohibition.