What students can expect from new regulation on free speech and preventing harassment and sexual misconduct

From today, 1 August 2025, new legal and regulatory requirements come into force for universities and colleges in two areas. Institutions have new legal duties to take steps to secure and promote freedom of speech. And the OfS’s regulatory requirements to prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct are fully in place.

These are important issues for all students, who deserve a higher education experience free from harassment within an institutional culture that values open dialogue and debate. And while these requirements have different origins (free speech duties are being introduced through new legislation; regulation to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct has been introduced by the Office for Students), there is an important relationship between them.

We’ve published guidance that sets out how we expect universities and colleges to approach these issues. And in this blog, I’ll explain what’s changing for students, and what they can expect from their university or college as a result of the new requirements.

Students: What does this mean for you?

Students benefit most when their education is underpinned by exposure to a very wide range of views. This creates the context for personal, academic and professional growth. For many students, going to university or college is a formative experience. They meet new people from different backgrounds and are exposed to different views on social, political, scientific and other subjects. It’s a time of opportunities and, for many, is life changing.

As a student, you’ll hear, read or study views that chime with, or challenge, your own perspectives. You’re likely to encounter ideas that you may find shocking or offensive. Equally, others may be challenged by your views. This is the purpose and benefit of higher education rather than something to be concerned about. And that purpose – free expression and debate of ideas – is protected in law: you and other students have a right to express and discuss these ideas, where that’s done within the law.

Discussing unfamiliar or uncomfortable ideas, when done in a peaceful, tolerant and lawful way, enriches interactions with your fellow students and builds understanding of differences. Even if this doesn’t change your mind, you’ll have considered the topic in a new light, and learned from the experience.

But vigorous debate doesn’t mean students should be expected to tolerate harassment. Speech, or other expression, that amounts to harassment is not protected. So you should expect a campus culture that’s open and tolerant of differences. You should expect to be able to take part in all aspects of university life – lectures, seminars, debates and societies – without being harassed. And you should expect the academics who teach you to feel free to challenge established ideas and put forward new ones, in their teaching and research.

At the OfS we also think there should be strong protections against sexual misconduct. Students have told us this really matters to them and we agree that no student should have to face sexual misconduct during their studies.

What will change?

Our new requirements mean that each university and college must take proactive steps to prevent harassment and sexual misconduct from happening. And it needs to respond effectively to any incidents that do occur. We expect institutions to:

• Have, in an easy-to-find place, clear, effective policies that explain what constitutes harassment or sexual misconduct, how to report it and how reports will be handled.
• Train new students to identify and understand behaviour that may be harassment or sexual misconduct, and train all students on the institution’s policies and procedures for tackling it.
• Provide support for students affected by harassment or sexual misconduct.
• Take steps to protect students from conflicts of interest and abuses of power in relationships between a member of staff and a student.

As your institution takes action to prevent harassment and sexual misconduct we expect it to continue to work with students and their representatives. This is important to ensure policies and procedures properly reflect the needs of students, or groups of students who may be particularly exposed to risks of harassment or sexual misconduct.

The new free speech duties will protect the lawful speech of all students, including those who may be subject to harassment for their views or for the lawful expression of their beliefs. Your institution must protect lawful freedom of expression, even for views that are controversial or unpopular.

Our guidance sets out what universities and colleges need to do to secure free speech, including your lawful rights to:

• religious expression
• political protest
• speech that is critical of your university or college, or of the government of any country.

These duties do not stop your university or college from having policies and taking action to protect students from bullying, harassment or the restriction of their own speech. For example, your university can act against conduct that prevents students from expressing their religion, beliefs or sexual orientation, or from taking advantage of their educational opportunities. This could also apply to conduct that doesn’t count as harassment but that prevents teaching, learning or research.

What your university or college should do

Your university or college should:

• take action to protect students from harassment and sexual misconduct, and act when it does happen
• support students who speak up, and handle reports in a timely and impartial way
• protect your right to speak, question, and debate within the law
• promote a culture where tolerant disagreement is a valued part of academic life, and no one is targeted for who they are or what they believe.

Universities and colleges have a responsibility to uphold these important principles. Our role is to monitor how they do this. Where we see potential non-compliance with these new requirements, we can take appropriate action to ensure students are protected.

For more on your free speech rights, see our short guide for students.

If you experience or witness harassment or sexual misconduct, you should be confident in reporting this to your university or college which should then take steps to address the issue, including providing appropriate support. If you are not satisfied with how your university or college has responded to your complaint, you can contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA). You can also contact the OIA in relation to complaints about freedom of speech.

Students can also use our notifications process to tell us about concerns about a university or college and its compliance with our regulation, including in relation to harassment, sexual misconduct or freedom of speech. While we do not handle individual complaints, we use this information to build our understanding of an institution’s approach as we consider whether regulatory action is needed.

These new requirements and duties should help create a culture where you are supported and able to thrive – and where every student can focus on learning and growing.