Disturbing emails expose teacher’s sex scandal at extremely prestigious school
A top school in the UK is at the heart of a shocking sex scandal after leaked emails revealed the extent of an authority figure’s discretion.
Philip Culling was a deputy head of a Hammersmith school and left in 2014 after the relationship between himself and a former pupil became public.
Culling, who headed the prestigious Godolphin and Latymer School, was having an affair with a student that started after she left the establishment.
The school educated the likes of Kate Beckinsale and Nigella Lawson.
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The 41-year-old and the teen met at the ‘all-girls’ day school; however, no disciplinary hearings took place at the time.
But when a whistleblower came forward in 2022, eight years after he left the school, the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found that he had been in an 18-month ‘sexual relationship with a vulnerable pupil’.
The TRA found emails sent by Culling to the pupil also included some which were sent over the school’s network.
Dubbing them ‘inappropriate’, some discussed music and alcohol, while one email before her 18th birthday showed Culling suggesting she delete another email from him.
He signed off with an ‘x’ in another.
The school found that Culling claimed to have only developed feelings for the pupil two or three months after she had left Godolphin and Laytmer, but ‘the gradual process of initially getting to know a person [platonically] had already occurred during [her] time at school.’
As recently as 2024, the school shared how ’delighted’ they were to have been ‘included in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2025 as a Top 10 Independent Secondary School for Academic Excellence,’ stating: “It is wonderful to celebrate our students’ academic achievements, but there is much more to life at Godolphin than simply our headline results. We are a school where individual talents are nurtured and championed and where students pursue an incredible range of activities and interests beyond the classroom with boundless commitment and energy.
“This is all achieved in a warm, friendly and supportive atmosphere which focuses on the personal development of each and every girl. We aim to ensure that our students go on to their first choice university, armed with the important skills and mindsets they will need to make a positive difference to whatever pathway they choose in the future.”
The TRA published its full findings in April of this year, titled ‘Mr Philip Culling: Professional conduct panel outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education’.
The relationship began with the pair meeting outside of school hours and Culling expressing his love to her during the summer holidays when she was 17, after she had finished Year 12.
The investigation found that in July 2012, when she was finishing her first year of A-levels, Culling was invited by her mother to attend dinner with the family.
Once there, he confessed he was attracted to her whilst the pair were alone in the garden.
Having taken her phone number from school records, as per the TRA, the pupil woke to a text from an unknown number the following morning.
Just one week later, Culling attended a gig and called her ‘gorgeous’.
Then, he met her at a Caffè Nero coffee shop and they hugged after she received her AS-level results in August 2012.
Two weeks later, he confessed his love, and in February 2013, he noted in school records that he saw her where she was in a ‘very upset state’.
Two weeks after this meeting, he kissed her for the first time.
He then began to send her flowers and called her the LOML (love of my life).
In the summer holidays after her A-levels, he visited her home each week to have sex, sent her a Valentine’s Day card addressed to ‘by far the most gorgeous and wonderful person in the entire world’ and more.
The TRA’s professional conduct panel found that the pair kissed in the school’s lift, engaged in sex acts in his office and that he visited a pub with her when school closed for the summer.
They had also had sex in a park on the day of the sixth form leavers’ party on 24 June 2013.
At this time, the unnamed girl was being supported by Culling at the school, as he was a child protection officer.
As a result of the findings, Culling has been banned from ever being a teacher again, as the TRA claimed he ’took advantage of the position of trust he was in towards a vulnerable child for his own gratification’.
Following the school’s inquiries, parents were informed by the head teacher at the time, Ruth Mercer, in a letter, calling it an ‘unfortunate lack of judgment’.
When investigated in 2014, the former pupil said Culling had asked her to lie to the school, and claimed he would lose his job and livelihood.
He then contacted her again in 2023 in the hopes she would not tell the TRA what had occurred between the two.
He allegedly said: “I’m hoping you will agree with me that it is best not to engage with it. You can’t be made to” and “it is important and for both of us not just me”.
A spokeswoman for Godolphin and Laytmer said, as per The Times: “Of those emails specifically cited in the TRA’s report, only one was found on the school system at the time.”
The pupil, now 30, produced copies of the emails for the TRA’s investigation.
The TRA said in its findings: “The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Culling involved breaches of the responsibilities and duties set out in statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ and ‘Working together to safeguard children’.
“The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Culling fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a teacher engaging in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable pupil as well as behaviour that was coercive, dishonest and lacked integrity. “
Marc Cavey, the chief executive of the TRA, banned Culling from teaching and a spokeswoman for Godolphin and Latymer said: “The TRA’s report reveals a shocking and deeply disturbing pattern of behaviour which we unequivocally condemn. We fully support the TRA’s decision to bar Philip Culling from ever working in the teaching profession again.
“He left Godolphin and Latymer 11 years ago after a comprehensive governor-led investigation into his conduct. The Hammersmith and Fulham local authority designated officer was fully aware and supported this course of action at the time, and the police were also informed. New information and evidence have now come to light through the TRA process and we are reviewing this. Above all, we are devastated to learn that a former pupil suffered in this way.”
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said, as per The Times: “In 2022 officers investigated allegations of abuse of a position of trust. No further action was taken as the relationship reportedly took place when the alleged victim was over the age of 16. We are now assessing further information which has since come to light.”
Topics: UK News
Britt Jones