From expulsion to teaching

David Wilson-Stonestreet was expelled from school at 17 and failed all his GCSEs. More than 15 years later, he has changed in a huge way and this summer achieved a BA (Hons) degree in English and Media from the University of Teesside. In September, he started training as a secondary English teacher.

David, 32, originally from Upminster in Essex, recalled: “I went to a Catholic infants school and found some of the teachers quite frightening; I felt spoken down to and wasn’t inspired. I started secondary school with poor literacy and numeracy skills and fell in with a bad crowd. I’d been accepted into the sixth form, but was expelled in Year 12, aged 17. The highest grade GCSE I got was a D in English.”

David became a care worker and, aged 24, moved to New Zealand where he met future wife Kirstie, from Marton, Middlesbrough. The couple returned home four years ago, with new daughter Grace, and live in Redcar.

David said: “I felt a failure to Grace; I had no academic belief in myself. But Kirstie had faith in me and told me I’d make a good teacher.”

He started with three GCSEs and an Access Course before his degree. David said: “I really enjoyed it; authors like Ibsen and Henry James blew my socks off. And analysing film was excellent. I used to say to the tutors all the time ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’”

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