Educating Greater Manchester headteacher Drew Povey banned from teaching indefinitely

Former headteacher and Educating Greater Manchester star Drew Povey and his brother have been banned from teaching after a regulator accused the pair of "unacceptable professional conduct".

Mr Povey and his brother Ross, who was the assistant head at Harrop Fold School in Salford, have been barred from the profession indefinitely for a minimum of two years.

It follows allegations of pupils being removed from the school register in a practice called 'off-rolling', which could potentially imply the school is performing better than it is.

A panel from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found the removal of these pupils was likely to have a positive effect on the school's performance data, including GCSE results.

Mr Povey, who was suspended and later resigned in 2018, denied all the allegations, while his brother made no admissions in relation to the allegations.

After his resignation, parents at the school - now called The Lowry Academy - vowed to fight for Drew to be reinstated.

At the time, the former head admitted to 'administrative errors' involving a few students, but claimed he was the victim of a personal vendetta.

The TRA has now found all the allegations put to him, including that he failed to ensure accurate records were maintained and, in doing so, failed to protect pupils from the risk of potential harm, to be proven. A panel also concluded his actions were deliberate.

His brother was not found to have caused, permitted or failed to prevent the amendment of pupil attendance data.

However, the panel found that all of the other allegations made against the former assistant headteacher were proven.

In two separate TRA prohibition order reports, each relating to Drew and Ross Povey, both stated the following: "The panel was satisfied that the conduct of [Mr Povey] amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

"Accordingly, the panel was satisfied that [Mr Povey] was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct."

Numerous character references and testimonials, describing Drew as 'kind', a 'breath of fresh air' and an 'exceptional charismatic leader', were considered by the panel.

However, at a joint hearing in October, Drew Povey's legal representative accepted on the former headteacher's behalf that he was a 'poor school manager' with the panel finding he had very limited knowledge of requirements.

According to the TRA report, there was 'little evidence that he had taken steps to address this lack of knowledge', leading the panel to conclude his conduct could be repeated.

The panel found that Drew and Ross's actions had brought the profession into disrepute.

They have both been prohibited from teaching indefinitely, meaning they cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.

The two brothers may apply for the prohibition order to be lifted in 30 October 2026.