A teacher has been banned from the classroom for life after admitting he had sex with a pupil the day after her final exam.
Tom Field, 46, taught at Ursuline College in Westgate-on-Sea for almost 20 years but has now been struck off after he took a group of schoolchildren to the pub.
Teacher Tom Field worked at Ursuline College in Thanet. Picture: Google
The 46-year-old drove some of them there and then dropped them back afterwards – deliberately leaving the girl he wanted until last.
In his own words, he admitted: “Well before [she] got out of the car, I told [her] that I’d like to have sex with [her].”
The very next day on June 21, 2023, Field drove the girl to his home under the pretence of getting changed after school.
Once inside, he took her upstairs and had sex with her, a Teacher Regulation Agency panel heard last month.
The pupil later told investigators: “I never said no, but I felt like it was wrong.”
Tom Field, 46, taught at Ursuline College in Westgate-on-Sea for almost 20 years but has now been struck off after he took a group of schoolchildren to the pub. Stock image
But less than a week later, on June 26, 2023, Field arranged to meet her again.
He picked her up from near her house, called in sick to work and took her to his own home to watch a film – before engaging her in more sexual activity.
By the end of the month, the teenager confided in a member of staff.
Colleagues immediately confronted Field – who confessed he had “slept with” the pupil during a phone call and resigned from the school the next day.
The panel branded his actions “sexually motivated” and a clear abuse of his role as a teacher.
Teacher Tom Field took pupils to the pub the day they finished their exams. Stock image by Creatas Images
“The panel found Mr Field seriously exploited his position of trust as a teacher by engaging in sexual misconduct, completely disregarded the teacher-pupil relationship and demonstrated limited insight and a lack of genuine remorse,” they said.
“These factors provided evidence to the panel of a potential risk of repetition.”
The report also revealed how, a day before the first sexual encounter, Field had taken pupils drinking at a local pub without permission, risk assessments or safeguarding in place.
He admitted the group stayed there for around an hour and a half, with the teenagers enjoying “a few drinks and some food”, before he dropped three of them home and left the pupil he was pursuing until last.
The panel said this showed a “complete lack of professional boundaries” and a reckless disregard for his duty of care.
In a written statement to the TRA, Field claimed he was “sorry, regretful and ashamed of his actions”.
But investigators said he showed little genuine remorse, noting he even suggested the girl “makes out that [he] was the chief and sole pursuer/orchestrator” in an attempt to deflect blame.
The panel said this proved he did not understand the seriousness of his actions or the power imbalance between teacher and student.
Field, who began teaching at Ursuline College in 2005, has now been permanently banned from the profession by the Secretary of State, who agreed there was no chance he should ever return.
Decision-maker Sarah Buxcey said: “The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding of engaging in sexual intercourse and sexual activity with Pupil A, taking pupils to the pub and driving them home, meeting Pupil A outside of school and picking up Pupil A from their home.”
She added: “This means Mr Tom Field is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”
There will be no right of appeal or review.
The panel concluded his “serious sexual misconduct” and betrayal of trust meant keeping him in the profession posed too great a risk.
They said: “By exploiting his influential position, Mr Field undermined the perception of the teaching profession and compromised the safe environment that educational settings are meant to provide.”
Ursuline College has been approached for comment.