Today the OIA published a casework note on free speech and student complaints, together with seven case summaries. Three of the seven begin with one student reporting another. In my last piece I said the OfS free speech guidance still does not treat student-on-student reports as a distinct scenario. I also said that triage had […]
Read more →In May I wrote for Wonkhe about two reports received through an English university’s reporting platform: a student reporting a coursemate’s public Instagram reels about faith and sexuality, and two students on a Middle East politics unit reporting each other over comments made in seminars. I suggested that the guidance gave the people handling those […]
Read more →The Hillsborough Law has passed the Commons. It doesn’t yet apply to the everyday work of universities, but I’d suggest the sector doesn’t wait. For those of us who run investigations and disciplinary processes, candour is a standard worth adopting in our most serious casework, whether the law is extended to us or not. The […]
Read more →Content note for discussion of suicide. Please take care and skip this piece if you need to. There are support links at the bottom of this page. Recently, the Guardian reported on the inquest of Chloe Moffat, a 26-year-old personal assistant at the Treasury. Chloe had worked there for almost three years.; she loved her […]
Read more →Kifinfo, the news site of Norway’s Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research, recently published an article on how universities handle reports of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Kristian Solaas, the equality advisor at the University of Agder, describes his ideal outcome: success means no whistleblowing cases reaching his desk, not because they have been […]
Read more →Content note for descriptions of serious sexual assault; please take care. Recently the Guardian reported on an account of a court martial held on a US airbase in Suffolk. An American fighter pilot, off duty and living in Cambridge, was tried under US military law for an assault on a British woman, rather than in […]
Read more →Last week, WonkHE published my piece about the Office for Students’ Freedom of Speech guidance (and incoming condition of registration). In the article I argue that, in its current form, it really isn’t designed to handle student-on-student reports of harassment… You can read it here: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-freedom-of-speech-guidance-wasnt-written-for-student-on-student-complaints/
Read more →Welsh universities have a regulatory deadline of 1 August 2026, and with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct addition to the OIA’s Good Practice Framework due for publication this year, there may be significant challenges on the horizon.
Read more →A few days ago I shared what the Sussex/OfS judgment tells us about the OfS’s investigation process. After an excellent and informative webinar this morning by Smita Jamdar of Shakespeare Martineau, I’ve been thinking a lot more about the implications the ruling might have more broadly in universities.
Read more →The OIA’s annual report highlights case summaries on harassment and sexual misconduct, emphasising trauma-informed practices. Key points include the need for consistent policies, effective communication, and appropriate language in disciplinary processes. The report underscores the importance of supporting reporting parties and maintaining procedural fairness.
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