‘Guilty’ teachers cleared to return to classroom

The disclosure came as Education Secretary Michael Gove said guidance on whether to ban a teacher from the profession was “not fit for purpose”.

As many as 11 male teachers have been cleared to return to teaching by a professional conduct panel, Sky News reported.

They had been found guilty by the panel of offences covering a range of behaviour including storing pictures, allowing a teenager to drink alcohol and kissing, the news channel said.

The new figures come the day after it emerged that a Yorkshire RE teacher had been given the go-ahead to work in schools despite being given a police caution for possessing an indecent image of a child.

Geoffrey Bettley, 36, was suspended from St Mary’s Catholic School in Menston, in 2010 after police found nearly 200 child abuse images on his computer.

He accepted the police caution and was dismissed by the school following a disciplinary hearing in December 2011.

But a professional conduct panel ruled that he should be allowed to return to teaching after concluding he “does not represent a risk to children and young people”.

Mr Gove has come under increasing pressure over the decision, which was signed off by a senior Department for Education official.