Conman teacher is banned from classroom for life after private investigators are called in to examine stellar resume

A £15,000-a-year private school religion teacher who falsely claimed to be an Oxford don and ex-team-mate of England rugby legend Will Carling has been banned from the classroom for life.

Private detectives have been called in to investigate the outstanding resume of Paul Elliott, 53, who has been concocting a web of lies dating back to 1988.

His sham performances included claims that he represented ‘North’ in a famous rugby match against Australia during the Wallabies’ tour of Britain that year.

However, a panel from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found that he was not mentioned in the match schedule, while former England captain Carling also confirmed he had no recollection of Elliott’s game or training.

His apparent rugby “career” has also included claims that he played for the University of Oxford – where he claimed he was a fellow and was studying medicine – in the 1995 varsity match and as a professional for the Wigan Warriors.

In addition, Elliott lied that he had been a visiting scholar at Cambridge and worked at the Belvedere School – neither of which were true.

The champion also exaggerated his academic and sporting positions at Liverpool Hope University and £16,000-a-year at Churcher’s College in Hampshire, where he had worked but in a more junior capacity.

The panel was told Elliott landed a job at Yarm School in North Yorkshire in August 2018 as Head of Religion and Philosophy.

He was released in October 2019 after the school conducted an investigation into his employment history, which commissioned a report from a private detective agency.

Paul Elliott’s sham performances included claims that he represented ‘North’ in a famous rugby match against Australia during the Wallabies’ tour of Britain that year

However, a panel from the Teaching Regulation Agency noted that he was not mentioned in the match schedule, while former England captain Carling also confirmed via email that he had no recollection of Elliott’s game or training

After Yarm received the shocking results and sought advice from specialists, he referred the strange case to teaching watchdogs.

Elliott also claimed 12 A levels and six A levels when he applied for the position at Yarm, which costs £4,921 per term.

Watchdogs found most of the allegations confirmed except for one count, which was dropped.

They have been unable to find the allegation that he exaggerated his results at A and O levels one way or the other.

The relevant certificates were not presented to the panel, so it was not possible to determine what qualifications Mr. Elliott held.

Representing the TRA, Michael O’Donohoe said Mr Elliott had displayed a “across-career pattern of dishonesty…exaggerations and outright fabrications” with Wigan Warriors and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge having no record of him.

In a written submission to the panel, Mr Elliott said he was hospitalized shortly after arriving in Oxford to train as a doctor, meaning he could not formally enroll but did take part in guest lectures.

He also said his name is not on the Australian program because he was asked to assume the identity of another player who can no longer compete, adding he is because of his height, weight and because he is a “fearless tackler”. been selected.

Mr O’Donohoe argued that there was still a “world difference” between attending guest lectures and studying medicine full-time at Oxford, as he had claimed in his application and CV.

He said Mr Elliott was described by some witnesses as a very “memorable person”, a “Marmite” character who had some “followers” among his students, as well as “students with whom he actually felt very uncomfortable”.

The panel was told Elliott landed a job at Yarm School as the director of religion and philosophy in August 2018. He was released in October 2019 after the school conducted an investigation into his employment history, which commissioned a report from a private detective agency

Clive Ruddle, who chaired the virtual TRA hearing, said: “Mr Elliott had displayed a pattern of dishonesty throughout his career.

“The panel felt that Mr. Elliott had undermined confidence in the profession by lying about his applications.”

The only document he could produce regarding his alleged time at Oxford was a certificate from the Farmington Institute, a constituent college of the University of Oxford based at Harris Manchester College, which was not awarded by Oxford itself.

Sarah Buxcey, Secretary of Education, banned him for life and ruled: “The panel found that Mr Elliott had been dishonest for an extended period of time during his career.

“Mr Elliott had shown no understanding or remorse for his actions. He did not seem to understand his behavior and this was of particular concern given the long period covered by these allegations.

“The panel was particularly concerned that Mr. Elliott’s lack of discernment and remorse indicated that there was a high risk of dishonest behavior being repeated.”