Counter-terrorism - the Prevent duty
The Prevent duty: What providers need to do
New providers need to complete the Prevent new entrant process before they become established providers. For more information about this, see the monitoring framework.
What new providers need to do
New higher education providers (‘new entrant providers’) need to:
- Do an initial self-assessment against the Prevent statutory guidance. You should submit this within two months of us engaging with you. After reviewing this, we may offer further guidance.
- Submit detailed evidence of baseline policies and procedures which meet the requirements of the statutory guidance within six months of our initial engagement. We will then test these policies through a Prevent review meeting. Successful completion of this process means a provider becomes an established provider.
What established providers need to do
Established providers need to submit their annual Prevent accountability and data return (ADR) in December – see guidance on the 2026 ADR.
What all providers need to do
Both new and established providers need to report certain Prevent-related matters throughout the year as reportable events, within five working days:
- Providers are responsible for identifying and reporting serious Prevent-related incidents via a reportable event, particularly where an incident has led to significant changes to Prevent policies, represents a substantial breach of Prevent procedures, or has caused significant harm to staff or students. The report should include a description of the incident, when and how you became aware, who has been informed, what immediate action has been taken and what further actions you intend to take.
- 'Near misses' should also be reported. These are incidents that did not result in harm but reveal weaknesses in Prevent arrangements, such as failures in information sharing, and providers should explain the corrective actions being taken.
- Terrorism-related arrests are always reportable. At a minimum, arrests under key counter-terrorism legislation (including the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006) should be reported to the OfS, even where the provider has limited information about the circumstances.
- Routine Prevent activity does not need to be reported. Examples include standard Prevent referrals made through established safeguarding processes or routine engagement with police and local Prevent partners.
- The OfS expects providers to respond to incidents in a proportionate and timely manner, taking account of external advice where appropriate, learning lessons from incidents, updating policies and procedures, and communicating changes effectively to staff and students.
- Reporting an incident does not automatically indicate non-compliance. In fact, reporting can demonstrate effective governance and oversight. However, repeated incidents, poor risk management, or a failure to report incidents appropriately may lead to increased scrutiny and could affect the OfS's assessment of compliance.
- Providers are responsible for notifying the OfS of any material changes that affect or may affect Prevent duty implementation via a reportable event. This includes substantive policy or process updates, changes to the Prevent lead, new locations or campuses (outside the local area) and changes to partnership arrangements that could impact Prevent-related considerations.
- Reports should include details of the change, its effective date, and its impact on Prevent responsibilities. Reporting of updated policy changes must be accompanied by the revised documentation, and changes to the Prevent lead must include the new lead’s contact details and start date.
- Any external speakers or events that are subject to mitigations or conditions, or are refused, because of Prevent-related risks are always reportable. Reports should include an explanation of the Prevent-related risk identified as well as the mitigations or conditions set.
Registered providers can submit a reportable event through the OfS portal. See Regulatory advice 16: Reportable events for further guidance.
Unregistered providers report matters to the OfS Prevent team by email at [email protected].
After you report a reportable event or make a submission, we may ask for further information. We may also engage with relevant partners.
We will communicate the outcome of a reportable event or submission to providers, including any required follow-up actions, where applicable.
We do not require submission of names or identification of individuals to carry out our Prevent monitoring function, and therefore this type of information should not be shared when reporting to us.
Making an in-year reportable event does not replace reporting this data through the accountability and data return process for the relevant period concerned.
Last updated 23 September 2026 + show all updates
23 September 2026 - Page refreshed to improve structure of information.
15 September 2026 - Updated link to ADR guidance for 2026.
17 September 2025 - Updated link to 2025 ADR guidance for providers.
10 October 2024 - Updated link to 2024 ADR guidance for providers and refreshed the content.
28 September 2023 - We have added a link to the latest monitoring guidance.
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