Teacher banned after lying about graduating from Cambridge and claiming to be five years younger than he was

A teacher has been banned from the profession indefinitely after he lied about going to the University of Cambridge and told his school he was five years younger than he was.

Nicolas Martin, who was the head of sixth form at St Edwards School in Cheltenham, admitted to lying on his job applications and fabricating documents. 

Following an investigation by the school, he was also found to have lied about being a magistrate.

Mr Martin told a disciplinary hearing that he was trying to pass himself off as “more younger, more dynamic and more fun”. 

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The 43 year old qualified as a teacher in 2006 and started working at St Edmund's in September of that year. In 2024, he successfully applied to be the head of sixth form, and later in 2025, he applied for the deputy head position. 

Discrepancies between the applications led to him being investigated and later referred to the teaching regulation agency. 

A professional conduct panel heard that Mr Martin said his date of birth was 1987 in his application in 2025, despite previously saying it was 1982. 

When asked about the discrepancy, he initially said that someone must have confused his handwriting, but in follow-up emails, he stated that the earlier 1982 date was incorrect and he had been seeking to correct it for several years.

The 1982 birth date was shown on employment records, including his passport and driver's licence, but Mr Martin said that the issue related to an error on an old passport. 

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The school then made further checks with the Department for Education, which only found records under the 1982 date. 

Mr Martin then provided updated passport and driving licence documents, which showed the 1982 birth date.

As part of an investigation, the school also reviewed the job application he made in 2024, in which he said his date of birth was November 2012, which would have made him 12 years old.

He also claimed to have a master's degree in history from the University of Cambridge in his 2025 application, but told the school he had a master's degree in history from Lancaster University in his 2024 application.

When asked to see the Cambridge degree, Mr Martin provided what he said was a copy of the certificate, and claimed the original was at his home, as he “liked to show it off to friends on weekends”.

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The University of Cambridge later confirmed the details on the certificate were not true.

Mr Martin had used the post-nominals “MA (Cantab)” and “JP” in his signature, and stated he sat as a magistrate around once a month in both applications. 

HM Courts and Tribunals Service confirmed there was no record of him sitting as a magistrate in recent years.

During a disciplinary hearing in March, Mr Martin admitted to acting dishonestly, and accepted he had provided a false date of birth, had fabricated a certificate and had not sat as a magistrate for several years.

The panel report said: “Teachers must have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school in which they teach, and maintain high standards in their own attendance and punctuality. 

“The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Martin fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.” 

He has been banned indefinitely from the classroom, and must wait two years before he can apply to have his prohibition order set aside.