A former sixth form teacher who sent inappropriate emails to students has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

David Brereton's actions, which also included sharing social media details with a pupil, amounted to misconduct and may have brought the profession into disrepute, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing has found.

The panel will now consider if a recommendation should be made to the Secretary of State to ban Brereton from teaching.

This decision is due to be made at a later date, following the conclusion of the three-day hearing.

Brereton was sacked from Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College in 2022 after it came to light he had emailed two students about non-education related matters, such as drinking alcohol and going out at night.

He agreed that he had sent the emails in question to two students in exchanges that had initially been in relation to their education and coursework, but then moved beyond these topics.

He also called one pupil on his personal number and advised her to store it.

The panel considered Brereton may have accidentally failed to withhold his number when calling in connection with an educational matter – but he later advised her not to tell anyone she had the number.

The panel found a further allegation that Brereton had given a nickname to a student unproven. He explained that as a PE teacher, it was "common practice" to refer to pupils using abbreviated versions of their names in the department in which he worked.

Brereton told the hearing: "I have admitted to the stuff that has been out in emails. It was wrong of me and I appreciate that – I see it.

"I explained my health situation to you all. I'm not using that as an excuse – I should have been better, I know that.

"My own children have had emails from teachers at different times, night time, weekends and holidays; it wasn't just me doing that. I appreciate that the email chains involved within this case are different to what perhaps would happen elsewhere.

"I have been involved in further education for a long time. I started to fall out of love with the job – I think it was the pressure of management – and that's probably why I spent more time on the work laptop in the evening.

"A lot of emails sent in the chain were to do with college work. But I admit I should have shut the conversations down."

Brereton worked at the college for 17 years until his dismissal in September 2022 following disciplinary proceedings. He told the panel he had had no previous disciplinary issues on his record during that time.

Alexander Barnfield, who presented the case for the TRA, told the hearing that Brereton had exchanged around 475 emails with 'Pupil A' between December 2021 and June 2022, including late at night, at weekends, and during school holidays.

"The volume of emails and the times and dates that some of them were sent was inappropriate", Mr Barnfield said.

"While some of them may have started with a question about homework, they went off on tangents. He says the students were describing what they were doing. They included references to getting drunk, sending drunken videos.

"There was use of a nickname and attempted exchange of personal contact details and social media details. Teachers are not pupils' friends. The responsibility of a teacher is to set and maintain boundaries."