Exceeding Regulations

What is the OfS regulation?

The Office for Students (OfS) introduced Condition E6 to regulate how higher education institutions (HEIs) in England prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct.

This regulation aims to create safer environments for students by establishing clear requirements for handling these issues. It addresses the need for institutions to take significant and credible steps to protect students from behaviour that may amount to harassment and/or sexual misconduct.

What’s in the regulation?

The OfS regulation covers various forms of harassment, including sexual misconduct, and is grounded in legislative frameworks such as the Equality Act 2010 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

It encourages institutions to not only prevent such incidents but also respond effectively when they occur. The regulation places importance on defining unacceptable behaviours, ensuring transparent processes for reporting, investigating, and resolving complaints. It requires insitutions to maintain a single comprehensive source of information on related matters so that all stakeholders are aware of institutional policies, procedures including rules  relating to intimate personal relationships between relevant staff and students.

Ultimately, the OfS regulation is designed to raise standards across the sector and reduce the prevalence of harassment and sexual misconduct in higher education.

In the guide you’ll find:

• An explanation of the regulatory requirements
• Culture Shifts thoughts, advice and guidance
• Practical ways Culture Shift can support you with compliance
• The case for why you should go beyond regulation
• Useful case studies outlining leading practice across the sector

Pre-order the whitepaper to learn how your institution can meet these requirements and go beyond them to create transformational change.

What are your responsibilities

To comply with the OfS regulation on harassment and sexual misconduct, institutions must meet several key requirements.

• Provide a comprehensive, easily accessible single source of information outlining how students can report incidents, what constitutes unacceptable behaviour, and the support available. This source should include minimum content on institutional policies, case handling and support.
• Demonstrate adequate capacity and resources to address harassment effectively. This includes allocating staff and financial resources to manage reporting systems, investigations, and support services. Compliance with freedom of speech principles is also critical, ensuring that institutional policies on harassment do not conflict with lawful expressions of free speech.
• Uphold freedom of speech. Institutions must comply with the requirements of the condition in a manner which is consistent with the freedom of speech principles. 
• The discontinuation of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases related to harassment and sexual misconduct, as these agreements can obscure systemic issues.
• Manage the risk of personal relationships between students and staff, implementing policies and producers that minimise the risks of an abuse of power.
• Staff and students are appropriately informed to ensure understanding. This will include communicating the above-mentioned single source of information effectively to all, induction sessions ensure staff and students understand behaviour that may constitute harassment and/or sexual misconduct. Provide training to relevant roles and ensure it remains up to date.

How to Prevent and Address Harassment and Sexual Misconduct

Preventing harassment and sexual misconduct requires a proactive, institution-wide approach.

The Culture Shift approach is broken down into 5 areas:

• Accessible reporting
• Effective case management and response strategies
• Powerful and informative analytics
• Meaningful intervention tactics
• Whole-organisation transformation through learning, education and innovation

This aligns with the regulation. Institutions are expected to prioritise education and training that raises awareness about harassment, its impact, and how to intervene when such behaviours occur.

This includes delivering regular training sessions for both students and staff, and integrating reporting mechanisms that allow for anonymous submissions.

Clear definitions of unacceptable behaviours help in holding individuals accountable and deterring misconduct.

You need to ensure transparent reporting processes that offer victim-survivors multiple channels to disclose incidents safely. Building a culture of trust and openness, coupled with robust support services, can encourage more people to come forward.

Addressing misconduct requires timely and fair investigations, informed by a civil standard of proof.

It’s also important that you regularly review and audit your internal procedures, ensuring that those tasked with investigations and disciplinary actions are equipped to handle cases impartially and effectively.

Publicly sharing data on the prevalence of incidents, reporting and outcomes of reports demonstrates accountability and builds trust.

How Can Culture Shift Help?

Culture Shift provides higher education institutions with the tools and resources to not only meet the OfS regulation but exceed it. Our vision of safe happy and supportive campuses for everyone everywhere won’t be achieved my meeting minimum standards. We’re proud to work with so many universities to address bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.

Our platform offers a safe and anonymous reporting mechanism for students and staff, the insight from which can facilitate early interventions. The platform also provides comprehensive data insights, helping institutions monitor trends and understand how harassment and misconduct are experienced.

We assist institutions in going beyond compliance by encouraging the use of more expansive definitions of harassment and misconduct, tailored to each institution’s unique culture.

The platform enables you to act on anonymous reports, ensuring that concerns are addressed even when individuals choose not to identify themselves.

Want to learn more? Explore our product further here