Policy paper

Higher education: free speech and academic freedom

Sets out proposals to strengthen freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 16 February 2021
• Last updated: 17 February 2021 — See all updates

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England

Documents

Higher education: free speech and academic freedom (web version)

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-2418-3, CP 394

PDF, 1.86 MB, 42 pages

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Higher education: free speech and academic freedom (print version)

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-2418-3, CP 394

PDF, 1.86 MB, 44 pages

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Letter from the Secretary of State for Education

PDF, 217 KB, 2 pages

Details

This report details how the government proposes to strengthen freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England by:

• appointing a Free Speech and Academic Freedom Champion to the Office for Students board
• requiring the Office for Students to introduce a new registration condition on free speech and academic freedom
• strengthening existing legal duties on higher education providers to actively promote free speech
• extending existing free speech duties to apply to students’ unions directly
• enabling individuals to seek legal redress as a result of a breach of the duty
• widening and enhancing academic freedom protections

It also sets out how we will work with higher education providers to:

• set minimum standards for free speech codes of practice
• ensure that free speech and academic freedom are upheld to a high standard

Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill supporting documents, including impacts assessments and human rights memorandums, are available on the Parliament website.

Published 16 February 2021
Last updated 17 February 2021 + show all updates

1. 17 February 2021

   Added the letter from the Secretary of State for Education to responsible officers.

2. 16 February 2021

   First published.