Transgender row teacher loses appeal at High Court

Joshua Sutcliffe was told by the judge that his argument had "no merit"

A Christian teacher struck off after he misgendered a pupil has lost a High Court appeal against a decision to ban him from the profession.

Joshua Sutcliffe was found guilty of misconduct while working as a maths teacher at The Cherwell School in Oxford in November 2017.

Mr Sutcliffe’s lawyers argued the Teaching Regulation Agency’s (TRA) order was an “unjustified interference” with his rights of freedom of speech and religion.

But Mr Justice Pepperall said there was “no merit” in the argument that his human rights had been interfered with.

The judge said Mr Sutcliffe failed to “understand or accept the harm that he caused vulnerable children in his class”.

He said Mr Sutcliffe did not accept "that his right to manifest and express his religious convictions might have to be balanced against his professional duties to treat children with dignity and respect and to safeguard their wellbeing".

After the judgment, Mr Sutcliffe said: "With this ruling every teacher is at risk if they share their beliefs and views in the classroom."

He said he had been a “marked man” since he “dared to express [his] Christian beliefs in a school” and appeared in the media.

Mr Sutcliffe added: "The TRA wanted me to capitulate and say that I was wrong. I have been severely punished for refusing to do so. Despite this setback, I will continue to fight for justice and to get my career back."

The TRA panel concluded in May 2023 that Mr Sutcliffe did not treat the transgender pupil with “dignity and respect” by failing to use his preferred pronoun in class, and while appearing on ITV’s This Morning, also in November 2017.

It also found Mr Sutcliffe failed to safeguard pupils' wellbeing when saying God had stopped a person from being gay because it was wrong.

The panel also found he did not provide a balanced view to a video played to pupils about men being "not masculine enough" while at St Aloysius' College in Islington, London, in 2018.