The Office for Students brings in a new requirement for Universities to protect students from harassment and sexual misconduct

OfS has announced a new condition of registration that will require Universities and Colleges to set out how they will continue to tackle harassment and sexual misconduct that affects their students.

Universities and colleges will need to publish comprehensive information to explain to students how their institution is preventing harassment and sexual misconduct, how incidents that do happen can be reported, and what students should expect – and how they will be supported – during any subsequent investigation.

Staff and students will receive training, including to improve understanding of what constitutes harassment and sexual misconduct. Universities and colleges will no longer be able to use non-disclosure agreements in cases of harassment or sexual misconduct. Institutions are also being asked to take steps to prevent an abuse of power in personal relationships between staff and students.

The condition is being introduced following extensive consultation and will build on work already being done across the sector to protect students from harm.

The announcement was accompanied survey results that aimed to better understand the extent of sexual misconduct in the higher education sector in England and to learn more about the context in which incidents occur.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Women were more than twice as likely to experience sexual harassment than men (27 per cent compared to 12 per cent), and over three times more likely to experience sexual assault or violence than men (13 per cent compared to four per cent).
• Twelve per cent of students who experienced sexual harassment in the last year made a formal report to their university. Of those who did make a report: 32 percent said their experience of reporting was good and 43 per cent said it was poor.
• Ninety per cent of students who experienced sexual assault or violence in the last year did not report the incident to the police.

Susan Lapworth, chief executive at the OfS, said that ‘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 they are better protected and better able to succeed on their courses”.

The new condition of registration builds on work by Universities UK and individual universities and provides impetus for further improvement in practice across the sector.