New guidance to support universities in tackling harassment and sexual misconduct

The publication is an update to guidance first issued in 2016 on handling alleged student misconduct. It makes clear that while universities cannot make decisions about whether a criminal offence has been committed, they can make decisions where there has been a breach of their own code of conduct. The updated guidance sets out a framework and case studies to guide institutions in handling these investigations.

It is part of UUK’s ‘Changing the Culture’ work - initially set up to examine violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting students, making recommendations and providing guidance for higher education providers to follow.

The author of today’s report, Nicola Bradfield, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor, Coventry University, said:

More widely, increased reporting and data in the sector is rightly drawing attention to the scale of harassment and sexual misconduct. In late 2022, the Office for Students (OfS) published survey results from 68 providers. It found 57% of respondents saw an increase in reports between 2020-22. The rise in reported incidents is a serious concern, but also indicates that students have greater confidence in reporting such incidents.

The OfS also found that universities had made significant progress in adopting the recommendations of UUK’s 2016 guidance. In total, the survey found that 98% of UUK’s members have now introduced a process where students have the option to report in person any incidences of harassment or sexual misconduct. All UUK members surveyed said they provide clear information to students on how to report incidents,  further highlighting the commitment of universities to tackle these issues head on. The report also found that leadership responsibility for tackling harassment and sexual misconduct had shifted to more senior roles at UUK member universities.

Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE, FRSE, President of Universities UK and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews said:

Notes

• Since the publication of Changing the Culture, UUK has produced a number of additional reports and guidance on tackling different forms of harassment, including:
  • Tackling staff-to-student sexual misconduct
  • Tackling racial harassment
  • Tackling antisemitism
  • Tackling Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred
  • Online harassment
  • Combat Misconduct project with AVA

All reports can be viewed here: Changing the culture: our work on tackling harassment

• Survey published by the OfS, conducted by SUMS Consulting: SUMS’ final report published from our evaluation of Office for Students’ statement of expectations - SUMS
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