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English universities will be required to provide training and publish details on prevention and reporting
The Office for Students is imposing new obligations on English universities to protect their students from harassment and sexual misconduct.
Under a new condition of registration announced by England’s higher education regulator on 31 July, institutions will have to publish comprehensive details of how they deal with incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct. This includes information on how incidents are prevented or managed and what support the victim will receive during an investigation, the OfS said.
The new registration condition also requires higher education institutions to provide training for staff and students on what constitutes harassment or sexual misconduct.
Universities and colleges will no longer be able to use nondisclosure agreements aimed at containing the reputational damage that may be caused by such incidents, and they will be required “to take steps to prevent an abuse of power in personal relationships between staff and students”.
The condition of registration—to be known as condition E6—follows an OfS consultation and will come into force on 1 August 2025.
OfS chief executive Susan Lapworth said: “Students have told us clearly that they want to see more active regulation to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct in higher education. We’ve heard them, and our new regulation will help ensure that they are better protected and better able to succeed on their courses.
“Universities and colleges are increasingly alive to these issues and the serious impact they can have on students, particularly women. Some institutions already ban inappropriate relationships between staff and students—and we expect many more will now follow.”
Survey results
The announcement came alongside the publication of data from an OfS pilot survey on sexual misconduct in English higher education. The survey found that 20 per cent of students had experienced some form of unwanted sexual behaviour.
Only 12 per cent of students who experienced sexual harassment in the past year made a formal complaint to the university authorities, it said. Of those who did, they considered the response from the university to be “good” in 32 per cent of cases and “poor” in 43 per cent of cases. Only 10 per cent of victims reported an incident to the police, the OfS found.
The 2022 Crime Survey for England and Wales also found that full-time students were more likely to be subjected to sexual assaults than any other occupational group.