Leading headteacher John Tomsett has admitted that his affair with his former A-level pupil back in the early 90s would not have been acceptable today.

But he says that in the 80s and early 90s it was not uncommon for teachers to have affairs with pupils. Mr Tomsett said that at Eastbourne Sixth Form College, where he was a young English teacher, a colleague was married to a former student and another was dating a current student.

He said that while he himself was a sixth-former, a science teacher was “very openly” having an affair with a girl in his year and the headteacher merely advised him to clear it with the girl’s parents.

Appearing before a teacher conduct panel in Coventry today, Mr Tomsett admits having a sexual relationship with his former pupil in the summer after her A levels, but denies it was a case of professional misconduct, or that it brought the teaching profession into disrepute.

However, in a witness statement, he said it had since become clear to him, after 30 years as a teacher, including 15 as a head, that the relationship was “imbalanced”.

He said: “I would expect a young teacher today to have an understanding of how they would inevitably have control within such a relationship, and that such a relationship would be on their terms and would be essentially an exploitation of their position of a teacher, and wrong.”

Mr Tomsett told the panel that, as head of Huntington School near York (from where he is currently on leave), he had, in the past 18 months, dealt with two safeguarding issues concerning young male teachers and female sixth-form students. But he said they were minor issues, and having discussed them with the LADO (local authority designated officer) neither became referrals.

However, after consulting with child protection officers, Mr Tomsett said he had a visiting basketball coach banned for an inappropriate comment to a female sixth-form student.

‘Beguiling words’ to former pupil

In contrast, the panel saw a leavers’ year book from Eastbourne Sixth Form College in the early 90s containing references to which student had “the nicest legs”, “the nicest behind” and who was “the college flirt”. It also showed a group of lads drinking pints, with one looking at his crotch saying “mine’s bigger than yours”.

Mr Tomsett, who was on the book’s editorial team, told the panel that it “would never have passed his censure today” as a headteacher.

He also denies a separate allegation of failing to maintain professional boundaries by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with the pupil.

Presenting barrister for the Teaching Regulation Agency Ben Bentley put it to Mr Tomsett that while she was his pupil he was “very intense” and on one occasion told her that “she was one of the few people he cared about”.

Summing up, he told the panel that there were “beguiling words” and frequent one-to-ones, among other issues, stating: “He also writes a reference to exploring the meaning of life with Pupil A while the sun was setting. The boundaries had become blurred while he was still her teacher.”

Representing Mr Tomsett, Andrew Faux said that he was “intense to everybody”. He added: “He was a published poet who wanted to teach English with passion and enthusiasm.”

The panel is expected to return its decision tomorrow.