Music instructor at £67k-a-year women’ faculty is struck off for visiting former pupil at uni and spending night time in her mattress – regardless of insisting their bond was ‘platonic’

A teacher at a £66,870-a-year girls’ school has been struck off after setting up an Instagram account to message a pupil he bonded with on a school music tour – before spending the night in her bed just weeks into her first term at university.

Louis Stockton, 32, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, taught music at Cheltenham Ladies’ College in Gloucestershire from September 2022 until October 2023.

A Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) professional conduct panel heard that Stockton met the Year 13 girl, referred to only as Pupil A, while she was a sixth form pupil at the school.

Their contact began during a school music tour, where the pair exchanged friendly messages on Microsoft Teams.

After returning from the trip, Stockton created an Instagram account and continued messaging the pupil privately on Instagram and Snapchat between 15 July and 3 October 2023.

The panel found he failed to maintain professional boundaries, noting that the school’s safeguarding guidance warns teachers against forming social media friendships with pupils or recent school leavers.

The incident occurred in August 2023, after the pupil had finished at the school, but at a time when the school said the ‘teacher-pupil professional relationship’ continued until August 31.

In late August, Stockton met the pupil in Cheltenham, visited the Frog and Fiddle pub with her and they had a ‘couple of drinks’ – before she stayed overnight at his flat after missing the last train home.

Louis Stockton has been struck off from teaching after a misconduct panel found he crossed professional boundaries with a former pupil 

Cheltenham Ladies’ College (pictured), where Stockton taught from 2022 to 2023, charges up to £66,870 a year in fees 

He later said she ‘fell asleep on the sofa listening to music’ and that he allowed her to stay ‘out of convenience’.

On September 4, 2023, Stockton travelled to London to visit the pupil at her university accommodation, claiming he wanted to see how she was settling in during her first weeks there.

He admitted staying overnight in her bed, saying he thought ‘there would be a sofa or other suitable place to sleep’ and that after initially sleeping on the floor, he got into bed with her.

Stockton later insisted it was a ‘platonic thing’ and claimed he slept only on ‘the edge of the bed’.

Concerns were raised with the school on 19 September 2023, when another pupil reported Stockton’s relationship with Pupil A to safeguarding staff.

In a message to Pupil A that day, Stockton said he was ‘100% screwed’ if the other pupil ‘tells all’, the misconduct hearing was told.

During safeguarding meetings on 20 September and again on 3 October, Stockton repeatedly misled senior staff, denying he had met the pupil and claiming contact had stopped.

The panel found that he deliberately tried to conceal the extent of the relationship and ruled that his conduct was dishonest.

Although the panel stopped short of recommending that Stockton be struck off, concluding that publication of its findings would be sufficient, the Secretary of State for Education overruled that decision, ruling that his dishonesty warranted a ban in order to ‘maintain the public confidence in the profession’.

A prohibition order was imposed on 21 January 2026, striking him off indefinitely, and he cannot apply for it to be set aside until 29 January 2028 at the earliest.

The TRA panel concluded: ‘The panel was not satisfied that Mr Stockton’s teaching role was affected by his failure to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with Pupil A, who was no longer being educated at the School at the time, or that pupils may have been exposed to or influenced by his behaviour in a harmful way.

‘The panel considered that the general public would find it concerning a teacher meeting up with a former pupil who had recently left the school, on a purely social one to one basis, staying overnight together and sharing the same bed, despite the relationship being platonic.

‘The panel considered that Mr Stockton demonstrated a high level of remorse and was truly apologetic for his conduct as he stated that he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the impact of his actions on the School and the profession.

‘Mr Stockton stated that he was a ‘dedicated teacher with a deep love for music and education’ and his conduct was ‘an isolated, regrettable, lapse in judgment by a junior teacher who was overwhelmed by a complex situation’.

‘The panel accepted that Mr Stockton was a teacher early in his career and he lacked full appreciation of the requirement for professional boundaries at the relevant time.

A panel found Stockton failed to maintain professional boundaries after setting up an Instagram account to message the pupil, meeting her for drinks and later trying to conceal the extent of their contact

The Secretary of State for Education overruled a panel’s initial view and said his dishonesty required a ban to maintain public confidence in the profession

In on incident, Stockton took the former Year 13 girl to the Frog and Fiddle pub in Cheltenham (pictured) and then let her into his flat after she missed the last train home.

‘The panel considered that Mr Stockton’s level of remorse and insight, passion for teaching, and multiple references regarding his character, meant there was a very low risk of Mr Stockton repeating his conduct.

‘The panel considered that Mr Stockton could make a valuable contribution to the profession.’

Stockton now runs a freelance music business, Mannix Music, based in Evesham, Worcestershire, offering lessons, workshops and accompaniment services, and has previously worked at Bromsgrove School, where fees can cost up to £55,000 a year.