Prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct

Statement of expectations

The ‘Statement of expectations for preventing and addressing harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students in higher education’ was published in April 2021. It provides a set of consistent recommendations to support higher education providers in England to develop and implement effective systems, policies and processes to prevent and respond to incidents of harassment and sexual misconduct.

Underpinning this framework is the principle that all higher education students registered at a provider, however and wherever they may be studying, should be protected from harassment and sexual misconduct from other students, staff and visitors.

Office for Students statement of expectations for preventing and addressing harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students in higher education

PDF, 151Kb

Read the statement of expectations

Evaluating the statement of expectations

We appointed SUMS Consulting to evaluate the impact of the publication of the statement of expectations.

This included understanding if, and how, the statement has driven changes in:

provider behaviour
the underlying issue of harassment and sexual misconduct
student experiences and outcomes related to the prevention of and response to harassment and sexual misconduct.

SUMS Consulting have produced the following evaluation reports:

Evaluation of statement of expectations: Final report (November 2022)
This page also includes key findings from an analysis of an online survey of higher education providers, and a copy of the questions asked.
Evaluation of statement of expectations: June 2022 update (June 2022)

Following on from the evaluation, we recently consulted on a new approach to regulating harassment and sexual misconduct in English higher education.

Published 09 January 2020
Last updated 23 February 2023 + show all updates

23 February 2023: Information on the page has been condensed for clarity
10 November 2022: Link added to the statement of expectations final evaluation report
29 September 2022: Removed interim evaluation from the publication schedule.
30 June 2022: Updated evaluation information, including a link to the June 2022 update from SUMS Consulting on progress to date
28 February 2022: Link added to find out more about the evaluation of the statement of expectations
19 April 2021: Statement of expectations published
09 February 2021: Update to reflect finalised statement of expectations coming Spring 2021

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Prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct

Statement of expectations

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