Formby High School Teacher Banned From Teaching For Life

A former Formby High School teacher has been banned from teaching for life, with no right to ever ask for the ban to be lifted. The prohibition order was made on 28 August 2026 on behalf of the Education Secretary. The decision was published on GOV.UK on 16 September (Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Robert Collins).

The decision names Robert Collins. It records that he was employed at the school, on Freshfield Road in Formby, about six miles south of Southport, from 16 April 2012, as assistant curriculum leader of art, design and technology.

The order means he:

• cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England
• is prohibited indefinitely, with no review period, so there is no date at which he can ask for the ban to be reconsidered
• is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach
• has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order

A prohibition order normally applies for life, but panels can recommend that a teacher be allowed to apply for a review after a set period of at least two years. This one carries no such provision, which is the strictest form the sanction takes.

What the panel considered

The case turned on a single allegation: that Mr Collins was guilty of having been convicted of a relevant offence. He signed a statement of agreed facts on 7 April 2026 admitting the facts, and admitted that they amounted to conviction of relevant offences.

The panel was given a certificate of conviction from Liverpool Crown Court. The decision records that on 12 June 2024, at Sefton Magistrates’ Court, following a guilty plea, he was convicted of:

• 2 counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child
• 2 counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child
• 1 count of possessing an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child
• 1 count of attempting to cause or incite a female child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity, no penetration
• 3 counts of an offender aged 18 or over attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, no penetration

The document sets the same convictions out more than once, and the wording of two of the counts differs slightly between passages. The list above is the one taken from the certificate of conviction. The dates attached to the allegations run from August 2019 to June 2023.

The decision also records the sentence. On 24 September 2024 he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to a total of 27 months in prison, made subject to a requirement to register with the police for 10 years, given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, and ordered to pay a £228 surcharge.

What happened at the school

The decision sets out a clear sequence. Mr Collins was arrested at the school on 9 June 2023 by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, in connection with his suspected involvement in sexual offences involving children. He was suspended on 12 June 2023 and dismissed on 6 July 2023.

That is three days from arrest to suspension, and under four weeks from arrest to dismissal. The teaching ban followed more than three years later.

Why there is no review period

The panel met on 27 August 2026 by virtual meeting, chaired by teacher panellist Mr Alan Wells. The meeting was held in private. At Mr Collins’s request, and after the Teaching Regulation Agency had weighed the public interest and the interests of justice, the allegations were dealt with without a hearing, and neither he nor a representative attended.

The panel found the allegations proved and recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no review period. The published advice panels have to work to says the public interest weighs against offering a review in cases involving sexual misconduct with a child, or indecent images of a child.

The decision maker for the Education Secretary, Stuart Blomfield, agreed. He wrote that allowing a review period was not sufficient to maintain public confidence, citing “the seriousness of the conduct, which involved sexualised conduct towards children, the length of time over which the conduct occurred, and the lack of full insight into the proven conduct.”

The panel recorded that Mr Collins said in his response statement that he had reflected on the harm he had caused and the impact on the victims. It also recorded that he had suggested a redacted factor influenced a mistaken belief that exchanging sexualised messages online was socially acceptable, and that the panel had seen no evidence of it.

The school today

Formby High School is an 11 to 18 academy on Freshfield Road, run as a single academy trust. The government’s schools register lists 1,157 pupils against a capacity of 989 (Get Information about Schools).

The school has not published anything about the case in its news section. Its safeguarding page lists a senior designated safeguarding lead and three deputies, and points parents to Sefton Children’s Services and the Sefton Safeguarding Children Partnership (Formby High School safeguarding).

Prohibition decisions are not rare. The Teaching Regulation Agency had published 211 teacher misconduct panel outcomes so far in 2026 when we counted its GOV.UK list on 20 September. Not all of them end in a ban. This is the only one published in September that concerns a Sefton school: we read every decision published this month to check (teacher misconduct panel outcomes).

What it means for you

If you employ teachers. Schools, colleges and supply agencies must check a teacher’s record before they start work. The check shows whether someone has been prohibited by the Teaching Regulation Agency, or has a serious misconduct finding without a prohibition (check a teacher’s record). A prohibition order is separate from the barred lists held by the Disclosure and Barring Service, and does not replace a DBS check.

If you want to read the decision yourself. The full 16-page document, including the panel’s reasons and the decision on behalf of the Secretary of State, is published on GOV.UK and free to download. Every fact in this article comes from that decision, from the government’s schools register, or from the council and school pages linked above.

If you are worried about a child in Sefton. Call Sefton’s Children’s Help and Advice Team on 0151 934 4013, open 9am to 5.30pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 10.30am to 5.30pm on Wednesday and 9am to 4pm on Friday. Outside those hours the emergency duty team is on 0151 934 3555. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999 (Sefton Council, report a concern).

If your concern is about an adult who works with children. Allegations against people in positions of trust go to the council’s Local Authority Designated Officer, on 0151 934 3783. Employers and voluntary organisations must report an allegation to the LADO within one working day (Sefton Safeguarding Children Partnership, managing allegations).

For the wider picture on local schools, our summary of every 2026 Ofsted grade in the Southport area is here: Southport Ofsted 2026.