University students should be prepared to hear views that may be “uncomfortable or shocking” during their studies, as England’s higher education watchdog issued guidance on how institutions can protect freedom of speech.
New figures from The Office for Students (OfS) reveal that one in five academics across the political spectrum feel unable to teach controversial topics.
The OfS guidance, published on Thursday, outlines various scenarios and appropriate institutional responses, including managing protests, investigating staff and student complaints, and ensuring speakers are not prevented from sharing their ideas or opinions.
This development follows the passage of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act in 2023, enacted under the previous Conservative government. The legislation imposes a statutory duty on higher education institutions to secure and promote lawful freedom of speech, a requirement set to come into force this August.
Reacting to the survey, Arif Ahmed, director for freedom of speech and academic freedom at the OfS, said: “The core mission of universities and colleges is the pursuit of knowledge. Free speech and academic freedom are fundamental to this purpose.
“Students need to know that they can freely share lawful views and opinions, and be prepared to hear a range of views as part of their studies. This includes things that they may find uncomfortable or shocking.
“By being exposed to a diversity of academic thought, students will develop their analytical and critical thinking skills.”
In its guidance, the OfS said: “Higher education providers and constituent institutions should have a high tolerance for all kinds of lawful speech.
“There should be a very strong presumption in favour of permitting lawful speech.”
The guidance stated:
- Academic staff should not be constrained or pressured in their teaching to endorse or reject particular value judgements.
- Policies that regulate protests and demonstrations should not restrict these activities because they express or support a particular viewpoint so long as it is legal.
- Institutions should not encourage students or staff to report others over lawful expression of a particular point of view.
- The starting point of investigating any complaint relating to speech should be that lawful speech will not be punished because of a viewpoint that it expresses.
- Providers must take steps to secure freedom of speech for visiting speakers. A speaker who has been invited to speak should not be stopped from doing so on the grounds of their ideas or opinions.
The OfS made clear that it “will not protect Holocaust denial”.
The guidance was published alongside a survey, conducted on behalf of the watchdog by YouGov, which revealed a fifth of academics (21 per cent) feel “not very free” or “not at all free” to discuss challenging or controversial topics in their teaching, with almost a quarter (24 per cent) of those citing fear of physical attack.
The percentage of those who do not feel free to teach controversial topics rises to a third for academics from ethnic minority backgrounds while female academics are more likely than their male counterparts to say they do not feel free discussing such topics in their teaching, research, speaking engagements or on social media.
The survey, undertaken by 1,234 respondents between March 15 and April 19 last year, also showed that the most common topic academics feel restricted in discussing is sex and gender, followed by race and racism.
Twenty-eight per cent of participants said their university has become less tolerant of a range of viewpoints during their tenure.
Just under half (46 per cent) think their university would prioritise freedom of speech over not causing offence, while two-thirds (67 per cent) believe their university would prioritise staff and/or students feeling safe over freedom of speech.
OfS chairman Professor Edward Peck, told MPs earlier this year that the watchdog’s role in defending freedom of speech on campuses is “absolutely crucial”.
“Universities, colleges and other providers should be places where ideas can be explored, examined, challenged, or disagreement can be facilitated. Where new viewpoints can be discovered,” he said.
“It’s crucial – without that I don’t think we’d have a university sector which would be the envy of the world as it is now. So that’s my starting point.”
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