Harassment and sexual misconduct - a guide for students

We asked all final-year undergraduate students across England to complete a survey on sexual misconduct in higher education after completing the 2025 National Student Survey (NSS).

The survey aimed to understand:

• whether university or college students have experienced sexual harassment or sexual violence 
• students’ experiences of their institution’s reporting processes
• intimate relationships between staff and students.

Results

The survey found that:

• Nearly a quarter of final-year undergraduates have experienced sexual harassment since beginning their studies.
• One in seven have experienced sexual assault/violence. 
• Women were nearly three times more likely to experience sexual harassment than men. They were also more than twice as likely to experience sexual assault or violence.
• Nearly half of lesbian, gay, or bisexual students experienced sexual harassment, compared with 21.7 per cent of heterosexual students. They were also more likely to have experienced sexual assault or violence.  
• Younger people and disabled students also reported significantly higher rates of sexual harassment and sexual assault or violence.
• Over half of respondents who experienced sexual harassment in the last 12 months said that the incident(s) involved someone connected to their university or college. A third reported that the identity of the perpetrator(s) was a fellow student.

We have also reviewed the results by looking at different student groups and the context in which they study.  

This shows where patterns look consistent and where they vary. Though it does not explain the underlying causes or assess the approach at specific universities or colleges.  

Some key findings from the research show that:

• Students studying veterinary sciences, or languages or area studies are more likely to experience sexual harassment and sexual assault/violence.
• Students at higher tariff universities are more likely to report an issue than students at other institutions.
• Students who report a mental health condition are also more likely to report experiences of sexual harassment and sexual assault/violence. 

Why did we do this?

There is currently limited data on sexual misconduct affecting students in higher education in England.

We ran a similar pilot survey in 2023 with a small number of universities. By surveying students on a national scale, we hoped to:

• understand the prevalence of sexual misconduct experienced by students
• gain insight on how and where interventions might be targeted to tackle sexual misconduct
• test an approach to capturing prevalence data at a national level.

Help and support

The findings from the survey are concerning and may cause some students alarm. But it is important to stress:

• most students do not experience sexual harassment or sexual assault/violence
• from August 2025, universities and colleges must have in place firmer measures that prevent incidents from occurring and provide robust procedures that address it where it occurs
• all universities and colleges must have appropriate reporting mechanisms in place, and these should be clearly conveyed to students.

Our help and support page lists national organisations and charities that may be able to support you if you have experienced sexual misconduct.

Evaluation

We have also evaluated the 2025 survey. 

Overall, this found that the survey was practical and offers strong analytical benefits.  

It also found that we could improve the survey by: 

• making the survey easier to access
• refining communications, boosting awareness and participation
• considering other methods to capture insights from excluded student groups.

Next steps

Findings from the survey suggest a need for further investigation to improve understanding. 

We will run the sexual misconduct survey again within the National Student Survey in 2027. This will help build the evidence over time.

We also expect to publish data for individual universities and colleges from the 2025 and 2027 surveys together.