Morning, Tuesday, 19th January 2027
Online
This conference will examine next steps for freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England. Areas for discussion include complaints and redress, governance and regulatory readiness, employment and research practice, legal duties and event management, institutional culture and digital expression, and students’ unions, international partnerships and foreign interference.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to examine the operation and future direction of the regulatory framework under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, following the introduction of the Office for Students’ free speech complaints scheme in September 2026, and as providers prepare for OfS conditions of registration E11 and E12 on governance arrangements and compliance with statutory free speech duties, which take effect in April 2027, with the OfS now consulting on accompanying guidance and its approach to assessment. Delegates will consider early experience of the framework for staff, visiting speakers, applicants for academic posts and non-student members - with students continuing to use the Office of the Independent Adjudicator - and the implications of recent regulatory and judicial developments for proportionality, institutional decision-making and the approach to regulation, including the relationship between institutional autonomy and OfS oversight.
The agenda will assess practical requirements for provider readiness, including the review of free speech codes and related policies, complaints and disciplinary processes, governance and board-level assurance, and recruitment and promotion practices that protect academic freedom. Attendees will consider the interaction of free speech duties with equality law, harassment requirements, safeguarding and Prevent, alongside approaches to managing controversial events, protest and disruption without unnecessarily restricting lawful expression.
Further sessions will consider the institutional culture and practice needed to support confidence in freedom of speech and academic freedom across teaching, research and wider university life. Discussion will examine staff and student understanding, training and support for those taking complex decisions, and relationships between providers and students’ unions. The planned agenda will consider the implications of digital and online expression, foreign interference, international partnerships and research security, including approaches to protecting academic freedom and institutional autonomy while sustaining international collaboration.
Overall areas for discussion:
- complaints handling, evidence & redress:
- OfS complaints scheme - internal processes, eligibility, evidence requirements, time limits and early resolution - recommendations and publication of outcomes
- OfS and OIA routes - respective jurisdiction and consistency - teaching, assessment and research complaints - boundary with academic judgment
- governance, assurance & regulatory readiness:
- OfS registration conditions E11 and E12 from April 2027 - draft guidance - governing-body oversight - institutional risk
- assurance of compliance - proportionate requirements for smaller providers and colleges
- policy consistency, codes of practice and decision records - audit trails - evidencing lawful, proportionate and reasonably practicable decisions
- implementation, enforcement and reputational risk - early experience and case studies - monetary penalties and regulatory intervention - implications of the Sussex judgment
- recruitment, employment & research practice:
- recruitment and promotion criteria - EDI statements and other criteria that may operate as viewpoint requirements - viewpoint neutrality - protection of academic freedom
- staff conduct, disciplinary and grievance processes - distinguishing lawful beliefs and expression from behaviour that may be regulated
- research, publication and institutional reputation - academic independence in decisions on controversial work
- lawful speech, equality & event management:
- free speech and wider duties - Equality Act 2010, harassment and OfS condition E6 - prevention, safeguarding and public-order requirements
- speaker and event decisions - security, costs and conditions - disruption and thresholds for postponement or cancellation
- managing sustained protest and activism on campus - encampments, occupations, anticipated disruption and proportional institutional responses
- proportionality and reasonably practicable steps - avoiding unnecessary restriction of lawful speech and failure to act on unlawful conduct
- institutional culture, teaching & digital expression:
- staff and student understanding of free speech rights - induction and training - decision-making capability - confidence in open disagreement
- academic discussion in teaching and supervision - concerns around self-censorship and academic or professional consequences
- lecture capture, social media and online spaces - harassment - historic posts and screenshots - private expression and university responsibility
- students’ unions, international partnerships & foreign interference:
- provider responsibilities for students’ unions - codes of practice - society affiliation, events and oversight in the absence of direct OfS free speech regulation
- international agreements and research partnerships - due diligence - research and academic security - protection from external pressure or censorship
- OfS and government guidance on foreign interference - international students and visiting academics - transnational repression and reporting routes - institutional autonomy
