English university students must face ‘shocking’ ideas in a drive to protect free speech on campus

LONDON (AP) — Students at English universities must prepare to confront ideas they find uncomfortable and shocking, the national regulator for higher education said as it released new guidelines governing free speech on campuses across the country.

The Office for Students said Thursday that freedom of speech and academic freedom are crucial to higher education, so the guidelines are designed to ensure that universities don’t stifle any form of legal speech on their campuses or in their classrooms.

Students must be allowed to freely share their opinions and be prepared to hear a range of views during their studies, Arif Ahmed, free speech director for the regulator, said in a statement.

“This includes things that they may find uncomfortable or shocking,” he said. “By being exposed to a diversity of academic thought, students will develop their analytical and critical thinking skills.”

The guidance comes as concern grows that British universities had gone too far in silencing professors and students who expressed ideas some people found offensive. In particular, gender-critical academics and pro-Israeli groups say they have been targeted by university officials and students who disagree with their ideas.

In 2021, professor Kathleen Stock resigned from her position at the University of Sussex after a group of students who identified as queer, trans and nonbinary demanded that she be fired for expressing the belief that there are two immutable sexes, male and female. Earlier this year, the Office for Students fined the university 585,000 pounds ($785,000) for failing to uphold freedom of speech.

The guidance released on Thursday is designed to implement legislation protecting freedom of speech on university campuses that was passed by the previous government in 2023.

The regulator stressed that unlawful speech, including speech that violates anti-terror, equality or public order laws, is not protected by the legislation. Universities also have the right to regulate time, place and manner of lawful speech so that that it doesn’t interfere with research, teaching and learning.

While the guidance is a good first step, universities will still have a difficult time balancing all the interests on their campuses, Julian Sladdin, a partner at the law firm Pinsent Masons, told the Guardian newspaper.

“The difficulty which remains in practical terms is the fact that institutions are still subject to dealing day-to-day with extremely complex and often polarizing issues on campus and where the bounds of what may be lawful free speech are constantly being tested,” he was quoted as saying.