Joe Wilson

A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found Joe Wilson misled his school and "lacked integrity" after admitting he faked a sick day to attend a stag do in Lisbon

A primary school teacher who falsely claimed to be violently ill so he could sneak off to a friend’s stag do in Portugal went on to tear pages from his passport in an attempt to hide the trip, a professional conduct panel has found.

Joe Wilson, a Year 6 teacher at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham, told senior staff he had been “up all night being sick” on 18 May 2023 and was too unwell to attend school the following day, insisting he couldn’t “keep any food or water down” as he took a second day of sick leave.

But Mr Wilson later admitted the illness was fabricated so he could join friends in Lisbon, and that he had torn out pages from his passport in an effort to hide evidence he had flown to the Portuguese capital during his supposed sick days, the Mirror reports.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel was told that Mr Wilson embarked on the clandestine trip between Thursday, May 18, and Friday, May 19, 2023. He set the deception in motion at around 5am on the first day, messaging his headteacher: "I'm not going to be in school today. I've been up all night being sick and have got a really bad headache."

He then followed up the next morning with: "I'm still no better so won't be in school today. Can't keep any food or water down. I'll keep you updated."

The panel was informed that Mr Wilson was exposed by an anonymous staff member, who reported photographs showing the teacher at an airport holding a pint of beer. One image, shared by another person at 5.23am on the morning of Mr Wilson's flight, appeared online with the caption: "Early start for... stag do, few beers with the Portugal gaffer".

The teacher had initially maintained the photographs were from an earlier journey, but subsequently confessed to the TRA in October 2025 that he "agreed to attend a stag do in Lisbon".

He stated that he "made a huge error of judgement but (felt) the situation at the time influenced (him) to make this poor decision" and that he "accepted full responsibility" for his actions, including "falsifying a sickness".

In February, he emailed the agency confirming he "pulled a sickie to go on (his) mates stag do". Mr Wilson also tore pages from his passport to conceal that he had travelled abroad.

He informed the TRA he "made a huge mistake of taking out a page of (his) passport" following "an informal chat with (his) headteacher" as she "encouraged (him) to show something 'to get them off my case'". He also acknowledged he was "ashamed" of his behaviour.

An investigation report outlined how Mr Wilson surrendered his passport to someone from the school in June 2023, and photocopies of the document showed pages 9, 10, 27 and 28 were absent, according to the tribunal. The panel determined it was proven that Mr Wilson was missing from school without legitimate justification, informed the school that he was absent due to illness when that was untrue, and extracted pages from his passport which would have held stamps demonstrating he was abroad on the dates concerned.

The panel stated in its ruling: "In falsely reporting his sickness absence and providing an altered document during an investigation, Mr Wilson was intentionally misleading the school and concealing the truth.

"The panel considered that Mr Wilson's behaviour fell below the ethical standards expected of a teacher and was contrary to the manner in which the profession professes to serve the public." It further determined his conduct lacked integrity, was dishonest, and that his actions may bring the profession into disrepute.

However, it was concluded that a prohibition order, which would result in Mr Wilson being barred from teaching, was not proportionate but that publication of the findings would suffice.