Hero headteacher who starred on Channel 4 show banned from teaching

Former headteacher and Channel 4 Educating Greater Manchester star Drew Povey has been banned from teaching. Mr Povey has been barred from teaching, alongside his brother Ross.

Drew is ex-head of Harrop Fold, in Salford, while his brother Ross was the assistant head. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel said the pair carried out 'unacceptable professional conduct'.

It comes following allegations pupils were being removed from the school register in a practice called 'off-rolling'. The panel found the removal of these pupils was likely to have a positive effect on the school's performance data, including GCSE results.

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Drew was suspended from the schhool and later resigned in 2018. He denied all the allegations, while his brother 'made no admissions' in relation to the allegations, Manchester Evening News reports.

After his resignation, parents at the school - now called The Lowry Academy - vowed to fight for Drew to be reinstated. At the time, the former head admitted to 'administrative errors' involving a few students.

But he claimed he was the victim of a 'personal vendetta'. The panel found all the allegations put to him to be 'proven'.

This included that he failed to ensure accurate records were maintained and, in doing so, failed to protect pupils from the risk of potential harm. A panel also concluded his actions were 'deliberate'.

His brother was not found to have caused, permitted or failed to prevent the amendment of pupil attendance data. But the panel found all other allegations made against the former assistant headteacher were proven.

In two separate TRA prohibition order reports, a panel said conduct of both Drew and Ross 'amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession'.

'Numerous' character references and testimonials were shown to the panel, which described Drew as 'kind', a 'breath of fresh air' and an 'exceptional charismatic leader'. But at a joint hearing in October, Drew's legal representative accepted on the former headteacher's behalf that he was a 'poor school manager', with the panel finding he had 'very limited knowledge' of requirements.

According to the report, there was 'little evidence that he had taken steps to address this lack of knowledge', leading the panel to conclude his conduct could be repeated. The panel found that Drew and Ross's actions brought the profession into disrepute.

They both been prohibited from teaching indefinitely which means they cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England. They may apply for the prohibition order to be lifted, but not until October 30, 2026.