Free speech complaints

What the free speech complaints scheme covers

Who you can complain about

We can only review a free speech complaint about:

institutions registered with the Office for Students
‘constituent institutions’ of registered providers.

Constituent institutions include any constituent college, school, hall or other institution of the registered higher education provider.

What you can complain about

A free speech complaint claims that:

an individual has suffered adverse consequences because of something that the governing body of the institution they are complaining about has or has not done
these consequences have come about because the institution has - or might have - breached its duty to secure free speech within the law.

The action or inaction that you are complaining about must have taken place on or after 1 September 2026.

In the scheme rules, we set out that you submit a complaint about the ‘governing body’ of an institution.

This is because the governing body of an institution has overarching responsibility for the affairs and activities of that provider. You aren’t restricted to complaining solely about the decisions that the governing body itself has taken. For instance, you might complain about having been disciplined for something you’ve said or written, being prevented from conducting research, or having had a speaking event cancelled (if you are an invited visiting speaker).

When you can complain

If the institution you are complaining about has a complaints procedure, you should begin this process before using the OfS free speech complaints scheme.

We will normally only accept a free speech complaint:

once you have received confirmation from the institution that you have completed that process, or, if earlier;
once 90 days have elapsed since that process began.

Transitional arrangements

In the first few months of the scheme, you may have recently completed an internal complaints procedure pertaining to the action you wish to complain about. This may apply, for example, in the case of a policy that has been in place before 1 September and remains in place now.

In these circumstances, you must confirm that the university or college shares the same understanding of the status of your prior complaint (i.e. that it is settled or part way through). We would expect to see confirmation of this understanding from the university or college dated after the 1 September 2026.

If the institution confirms this, you can submit a complaint to the OfS without waiting for the 90 days to elapse. If the institution decides to consider the matter in the new context after 1 September 2026, then you can still submit a complaint to the OfS once that process is complete or if earlier, once 90 days have elapsed.

What you can't complain about

Events that happened before 1 September 2026

As the free speech complaints scheme comes into force on 1 September 2026, we cannot consider complaints about things that happened before that date.

Where a free speech claim has a relationship to actions or inactions from before 1 September 2026, we will review the complaint only in relation to those actions or inactions that took place on or after the period from 1 September 2026.

For example:

In October 2026, a college disciplines a member of staff for online posts made in 2014. The October 2026 disciplinary process and/or its outcome is an action of the college that we can consider under the scheme.

In June 2026, a university’s debating society is denied permission to invite a controversial politician to speak at an event. The university has a complaints scheme that external parties can use, and the politician uses it to lodge a complaint about the incident. On 22 September 2026 the university dismisses the complaint. This represents the conclusion of a complaints procedure but pertains to an action from before 1 September 2026. Therefore, the politician cannot pursue their issue through our free speech complaints scheme. However, if a similar incident occurred after 1 September 2026, they may be able to.

An academic considers that a policy introduced in 2024 has prevented them from exercising their academic freedom in the content and conduct of their teaching. Upon confirming that the policy remains in force after 1 September 2026 and engaging with any internal complaints process concerning it, the academic can complain to our scheme about an action or inaction that they contend represents a breach of the provider’s free speech duty.