Academic freedom and free speech are fundamental to our world-leading universities, and this Government are committed to protecting them. In January 2025, following my review of the potential impact of the legislation, I announced the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. This included my intention to seek a legislative vehicle to repeal the tort and duties on students’ unions, to amend the complaints scheme and conditions of registration, and to commence these duties on higher education providers and the Office for Students in their current form. I set out in a policy paper in June 2025 my commitment to protecting freedom of speech and academic freedom, and how I intended to achieve that through a more workable, proportionate and effective approach:
I have also continued to keep all uncommented provisions in the Act under review, as I committed to last year.
On 1 August 2025, I commenced key provisions from the Act that strengthened provider duties on free speech and placed a requirement on the OfS to promote free speech. The OfS has also issued extensive guidance to the sector on the new duties and continues to work with providers to offer advice and share best practice, so higher education providers themselves are more effectively protecting free speech. I am confident that the new provisions in force from August 2025, together with the OfS’s advice and guidance, have led to improvements in how seriously free speech and academic freedom are taken by the higher education sector. However, I am aware of examples of academic staff who believe that their right to lawful freedom of speech and academic freedom is still being curtailed, and who are not permitted to express their lawful views on controversial issues.
I will now act quickly to provide a suitable route of redress for staff, external speakers and non-student members to an OfS complaints scheme, and to give the OfS the powers to regulate providers where there are serious and systemic issues in relation to free speech protection. Although I still intend to make the amendments I announced last year, pending suitable legislation, I am making this statement to inform the House that I will make commencement regulations by mid-June, to bring into force the following elements of the Act:
The complaints scheme for staff, external speakers and non-student members. I will not be commencing the scheme in relation to students, who already have access to an excellent complaints scheme at the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which can consider free speech issues as well as wider student complaints, or in relation to complaints about students’ unions. The commencement regulations will bring this provision into force on 1 September 2026 in time for the start of the new academic year, and at which point the OfS will have published its complaints scheme rules.
The mandatory OfS conditions of registration. I will be commencing the duties on the OfS to put in place initial and ongoing conditions of registration set out in section 6 of the Act from 1 April 2027. These conditions will require not only that HE providers’ governance documents and arrangements ensure compliance with their duties under the Act, but that HE providers comply with their duties under the Act. The OfS will consult on and prepare conditions and guidance, and take forward other important work on provider governance, in time for those provisions coming into force.
I will seek a suitable legislative vehicle to repeal the tort and duties on students’ unions and will keep their commencement under review in the meantime.
I want to be clear that these new protections for freedom of speech will not protect any of the abhorrent and unlawful extremist speech and harassment that we have seen at some universities, which should not be tolerated on campus. Our social action cohesion plan has already set out how we will root out extremism and tackle division:
I will also keep commencement of the overseas funding measures under review. The OfS already has extensive powers to require information from providers, to investigate any breach, and to impose sanctions where breaches have occurred. The OfS has made it explicitly clear in its regulatory guidance that universities should not tolerate attempts by foreign states to suppress academic freedom. If we are to introduce new reporting requirements, we must ensure that they add value without being overly burdensome.
Our universities’ world-class reputation makes them a prime target for foreign states and hostile actors, who seek to erode that reputation by shaping or censoring what universities can offer. To tackle this enduring threat, we are investing £3 million to bolster existing support and access to expert advice on national security risk management, including a new academic interference reporting route and new guidance. We also recently worked with MI5 and cyber security services to deliver briefings to over 70 vice-chancellors on the threats of foreign interference to universities, as well as a suite of workshops with academic staff and students’ unions.
We have been clear to the sector about our expectations for providers to meet their regulatory requirements, and, where there are concerns, robust university processes and relevant national security legislation will be enforced. The commencement of the complaints scheme and the conditions of registration will also ensure that where foreign interference impacts freedom of speech or academic freedom, there are routes of redress for staff and external speakers, and the OfS has an opportunity to take action.
Commencement of these provisions will support protection for freedom of speech and academic freedom of campus for years to come, enabling staff and students to explore new and controversial ideas, test their thinking and for students to receive a higher quality education.
[HCWS1525]