Nearly half of the abuse claims against teachers in England are unsubstantiated, unfounded or untrue! 

According to a survey led by the Department of Education, only 3% of investigations resulted in a criminal conviction or a conviction on the teacher. The survey  looked at the number and nature of abuse allegations which were referred to 116 English councils between April 1st 2009 and March 31st 2010.

The survey recorded over 12,000 allegations and out of the 12,086 allegations referred, 2,827 (23%) were against school teachers, and 1,709 were against non-teaching staff in schools. The survey found that 47% of all allegations made against teachers, and 41% against non-teaching staff members were found to be untrue, unsubstantiated or unfounded – it’s almost as if, children thought it was ‘a joke’ to false report.

About 18% of teachers and 29% of non-teaching staff were suspended while accusations were investigated. Then afterwards, based on information held by councils rather than the police, the survey found that 12% of the accused teachers and nearly a fifth of those non-teaching members of staff faced a criminal investigation.

The final result was only 3% of teachers were given a conviction of some kind and only 5% of non-teaching staff were given a conviction of some kind. Shockingly low figures compared to the 18% and 29% reported.

The Schools Minister and the General Secretary of NASUWT (a teaching union) commented on these results;

Schools Minister, Nick Gibb –  “Every allegation of abuse must be taken seriously, but some children think they can make a false allegation without any thought to the consequences for the teacher concerned. When these allegations are later found to be malicious or unfounded, the damage is already done.We will back teachers as they seek to maintain discipline in schools and raise academic standards.” He also said the research justified the government’s plan to give teachers a legal right to anonymity when pupils made claims.

General Secretary of NASUWT, Chris Keates – “The government’s plans are a “small step in the right direction” but need to be expanded. In addition, it doesn’t address the issue of information being kept by police even when a teacher has been exonerated.”

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