Office for Students guidance urges ‘very strong’ approach to permitting lawful speech on campus

Universities in England will no longer be able to enforce blanket bans on student protests under sweeping new guidance that urges a “very strong” approach to permitting lawful speech on campus.

The detailed regulations set out for the first time how universities should deal with inflammatory disputes, such as those between the University of Cambridge and students over the war in Gaza, and rows over academics who hold controversial but legal opinions, such as the gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.

The guidance issued by the Office for Students (OfS) will make it harder for universities to penalise students and staff for anything other than unlawful speech or harassment.

Academics should not be pressed to support particular views.

Protests should not be restricted for supporting legal viewpoints.

Students or staff should not be “encouraged to report others” for lawful speech.

Universities must “secure freedom of speech” for visiting speakers.