Hi Lansdowne,

Not sure if this will make you feel any better, but...

Some years ago before I saw the light and left to work in business, I used to work in a secondary school. There was a brilliant teacher there who used to be a solicitor but had spent time in prison (from memory for some sort of financial fraud) and he ended up teaching law! So it IS possible to work in education with a 'criminal record'. If you are a good enough teacher and can demonstrate that - a mistake as minor as yours should not prevent you. Any headteacher refusing to employ someone because of something like that is probably very narrow-minded and probably not the sort of person you want to end up working for!

My advice is to focus on doing a brilliant application and giving a great interview - but be honest about the fine and explain that you made a silly mistake. However, don't focus on this issue to the exclusion of making it obvious that you are the best candidate - if a school wants to employ you badly enough, then there is no reason why an £80 fine for a minor offence should stop you.