Teacher banned after mendacity about graduating from Cambridge and claiming to be 5 years youthful than he was | EUROtoday

A instructor has been banned from the career indefinitely after he lied about going to the University of Cambridge and informed his faculty he was 5 years youthful than he was.

Nicolas Martin, who was the pinnacle of sixth type at St Edwards School in Cheltenham, admitted to mendacity on his job functions and fabricating paperwork.

Following an investigation by the varsity, he was additionally discovered to have lied about being a Justice of the Peace.

Mr Martin informed a disciplinary listening to that he was making an attempt to cross himself off as “more younger, more dynamic and more fun”.

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The 43 12 months outdated certified as a instructor in 2006 and began working at St Edmund’s in September of that 12 months. In 2024, he efficiently utilized to be the pinnacle of sixth type, and later in 2025, he utilized for the deputy head place.

Discrepancies between the functions led to him being investigated and later referred to the instructing regulation company.

Knowledgeable conduct panel heard that Mr Martin mentioned his date of delivery was 1987 in his utility in 2025, regardless of beforehand saying it was 1982.

When requested concerning the discrepancy, he initially mentioned that somebody will need to have confused his handwriting, however in follow-up emails, he acknowledged that the sooner 1982 date was incorrect and he had been looking for to appropriate it for a number of years.

The 1982 delivery date was proven on employment data, together with his passport and driver’s licence, however Mr Martin mentioned that the difficulty associated to an error on an outdated passport.

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The faculty then made additional checks with the Department for Education, which solely discovered data below the 1982 date.

Mr Martin then supplied up to date passport and driving licence paperwork, which confirmed the 1982 delivery date.

As a part of an investigation, the varsity additionally reviewed the job utility he made in 2024, by which he mentioned his date of delivery was November 2012, which might have made him 12 years outdated.

He additionally claimed to have a grasp’s diploma in historical past from the University of Cambridge in his 2025 utility, however informed the varsity he had a grasp’s diploma in historical past from Lancaster University in his 2024 utility.

When requested to see the Cambridge diploma, Mr Martin supplied what he mentioned was a duplicate of the certificates, and claimed the unique was at his residence, as he “liked to show it off to friends on weekends”.

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The University of Cambridge later confirmed the main points on the certificates weren’t true.

Mr Martin had used the post-nominals “MA (Cantab)” and “JP” in his signature, and acknowledged he sat as a Justice of the Peace round as soon as a month in each functions.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service confirmed there was no file of him sitting as a Justice of the Peace in recent times.

During a disciplinary listening to in March, Mr Martin admitted to performing dishonestly, and accepted he had supplied a false date of delivery, had fabricated a certificates and had not sat as a Justice of the Peace for a number of years.

The panel report mentioned: “Teachers must have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school in which they teach, and maintain high standards in their own attendance and punctuality.

“The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Martin fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.”

He has been banned indefinitely from the classroom, and should wait two years earlier than he can apply to have his prohibition order put aside.