Student guide to harassment and sexual misconduct

Universities and colleges must take certain actions to protect their students from harassment and sexual misconduct.

1. Publishing and communications

All the policies and procedures that a university or college has in place to protect students must be published either in a single document or webpage.

This 'single comprehensive source of information' must be easy to access from the university or college website, without the need for any form of password or security check.

The university or college must also communicate details of its policies and procedures annually to staff and students.

It should include details in its prospectus and student handbooks.

If the information varies for different student cohorts, the university or college should also make that clear.

2. Taking steps to protect students

Universities and colleges must take steps that are designed to protect their students from harassment and sexual misconduct.

They must also inform students about these steps and make sure this information is clear and easy to understand.

These steps will depend on their circumstances. They will, for example, need to understand and think about how harassment and sexual misconduct is affecting their students.

We expect that they will consult with students or student representatives to make sure that what they do is appropriate.

3. Non-disclosure agreements

From 1 September 2024 non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are banned where they cover allegations of harassment or sexual misconduct.

This means universities and colleges must not prevent or restrict students from disclosing information about an allegation.

This ban includes formal or legal contracts and less formal exchanges by email agreed without legal representation.

These regulatory requirements do not apply to any agreements in place prior to 1 September 2024, although we have said that we expect that universities and colleges should, where possible, avoid relying on or enforcing existing NDAs.

4. Staff and student relationships

Universities and colleges must take steps to protect students from conflicts of interest or abuses of power in intimate personal relationships between students and staff members.

Abuse of power may look like a staff member promising favourable or detrimental treatment in order to facilitate an intimate personal relationship with a student (for example, promising favourable treatment on academic assessments or not receiving funding for research).

Universities' and colleges' approaches to staff and student relationships will depend on their circumstances.

They could achieve this by banning such relationships. A statement discouraging relationships alone is not enough.

They might consider various approaches or a package of measures that, as a whole, make a difference.

This package might include a combination of the following:

• explicitly discouraging intimate personal relationships
• raising awareness among students of behaviour that could amount to abuse of power, coercion, or sexual and/or romantic advances
• empowering students to refuse and report inappropriate behaviour and providing information on where they can access support
• ensuring staff are appropriately trained about appropriate professional boundaries and the likelihood of harassment and sexual misconduct occurring within such relationships.

When a provider is taking steps to manage conflicts of interest or abuses of power, it should make sure that the steps it takes do not disadvantage the student or students involved.

Whatever approach they take, universities and colleges must explain it and communicate it to students in their published single comprehensive source of information.

5. Reporting process

Students must have access to a process for reporting an incident of harassment and sexual misconduct at their university or college.

Universities and colleges can develop this according to their circumstances, but the process could be:

• explained publicly and prominently
• include in-person and online ways of reporting
• allow students to raise incidents anonymously
• make sure any information is handled sensitively and fairly.

Universities and colleges may also explain how they will investigate incidents, reach decisions and allow for appeals.

They should also inform anyone directly affected by the decision they reach.

6. Training for students

Universities and colleges must make sure their students are informed and understand the steps their university or college is taking to protect them, as set out in their single comprehensive source of information. This needs to include:

• support available to students
• how to report an incident and how information received will be handled sensitively and fairly
• how investigation and decision making processes take place, and how those directly affected are informed of the outcome
• policies on intimate personal relationships between staff and students
• activity designed to prevent harassment and sexual misconduct.

We expect that this will involve some form of training.

As part of their induction, new students must also be trained to understand behaviour that may constitute harassment or sexual misconduct.

Universities and colleges could also consider:

• training for potential witnesses of sexual misconduct
• training on sexual consent.

Universities and colleges should also underpin all training with credible evidence and make sure they evaluate how effective it has been.

Staff also need to be appropriately trained.

7. Support for those affected

Support must be provided to students involved in incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct, including those who:

• want to make an allegation
• have experienced harassment or sexual misconduct
• have witnessed harassment or sexual misconduct
• are actual or alleged perpetrators.

Support in these areas might mean directing students to counselling services, making referrals to other services, or giving them academic support if their studies have been affected.

Universities and colleges should consider ensuring support is available at all relevant times, including before, during and after an investigation, as well as to students who decide not to make a formal report about an incident.