New measures to protect free speech in universities

The government has announced a series of new measures aimed at strengthening freedom of speech and academic freedom across universities.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the reforms are designed to tackle growing concerns that academics, students and visiting speakers are being silenced.

Under the plans, new regulations will be introduced in June to create a first-of-its-kind complaints scheme, run by the Office for Students (OfS). Launching at the start of the next academic year, the free scheme will allow university staff, external speakers and others to report concerns where institutions fail to uphold free speech.

The OfS will investigate complaints and could recommend that universities review decisions, change their processes or pay compensation. From next April, the regulator will also gain powers to fine institutions that breach their legal duties under the Freedom of Speech Act. Penalties could reach £500,000 or 2% of a university’s income, with the most serious cases risking deregistration and loss of public funding.

The regulator says it has received reports of lecturers and speakers being harassed or blocked for holding gender-critical or religious views, as well as concerns about foreign interference and ideological requirements in job adverts.

Currently, staff must rely on internal complaints procedures or pursue costly legal action. The new system is intended to provide a simpler and more accessible route for raising concerns.

Phillipson said freedom of speech is “the foundation of every university’s success” but warned that too many academics face a “culture of fear” that stifles debate and the pursuit of knowledge. She added that the reforms would help restore universities as “engines of opportunity, aspiration, and growth.”

The announcement builds on earlier changes introduced in August, which strengthened universities’ duty to actively promote academic freedom and required the OfS to support free speech.

Additional protections include a ban on the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of campus misconduct, with affected staff now able to seek redress through the new complaints scheme.

Arif Ahmed, Director for Free Speech and Academic Freedom, said the measures would give staff and speakers confidence that their rights would be defended.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Press, President of Universities UK, said universities remain committed to protecting free speech but stressed the need for the regulator to act “fairly, transparently and proportionately.”