We have today published a casework note and some case summaries of complaints about free speech and student complaints.
Freedom of speech and academic freedom are important parts of a high-quality student experience.
Since the OIA was established in 2004, students have always been able to bring complaints to us about issues involving academic freedom and freedom of speech. This remains the case.
There has been increased focus on free speech issues across higher education in recent years, alongside changes to the legal and regulatory landscape, including a new complaints scheme for university staff and visitors launched by the Office for Students. These changes though do not affect the OIA’s long-standing role in dealing with student complaints.
Our new information is in the form of a casework note and summaries of how we have decided several complaints with free speech elements within them. They are intended to support students and higher education providers by explaining our role and remit, and giving an understanding of how past cases have been decided.
Although these are important issues, complaints involving free speech make up a very small proportion of our overall casework.
Our experience is also that students rarely complain to us about freedom of speech as an abstract principle. More often, free speech forms part of a wider complaint about something that has happened to them.
Our role is not to decide for ourselves whether particular speech was acceptable, or to substitute our judgment for that of the provider.
As with other complaints, we consider:
- whether the provider followed its procedures;
- whether those procedures were themselves reasonable;
- whether the provider took account of the legal and regulatory responsibilities relevant to the case; and
- whether the provider’s final decision was reasonable in all the circumstances.
This allows us to focus on the central questions for our Scheme: whether the student’s complaint was handled fairly and reasonably and whether the final decision was reasonable.
Read our new free speech casework note.
For further information, contact communicationsteam@oiahe.org.uk.