A new Office for Students condition of registration comes into effect this summer, introducing requirements for institutions to protect students from harassment and sexual misconduct. All staff and students will be required to undertake new online training and we will have new webpages available as a one stop shop for information.
The University has long been committed to protecting our community and preventing and tackling harassment and sexual misconduct. We aim to foster a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment, and this will now be enhanced by new online training to help all staff and students understand acceptable behaviours and practices and prevent harassment and sexual misconduct.
The new condition of registration, Condition E6, comes into force on 1 August 2025, and you can read more about it on Advance HE’s Knowledge Hub. As the new condition comes into effect, all staff (including those working at the University who are employed by third party contractors) will be required to complete compulsory online training which has been developed in partnership with the Higher Education sector. The training will help you to understand what constitutes harassment and sexual misconduct, the impact it has, key University policies, disclosures and reporting, self-care, and routes to find out more.
You will receive an email with a link to complete the training, which will take around 45-60 minutes to complete. Staff may need to complete refresher training every year.
All new undergraduate students will also be required to complete online training at the start of the academic year. This training will replace the current Consent Matters training.
Providing a comprehensive source of information
In accordance with the new condition, the University must publish and maintain a ‘comprehensive source of information’ setting out information and procedures on addressing harassment and sexual misconduct. We are developing a new page on our website and have taken steps to make sure any outdated information has been removed from our website. Please ensure that any old documentation or guidance you hold in offices, in hard or soft copy, are removed and that you use the webpage as the only source of information on this topic for students or staff.
How do we protect our students currently?
Meeting Condition E6 through our new training programme is part of our broader effort to ensure every member of our community feels protected and supported. Through the Report and Support tool we encourage staff and students to report any experience of behaviours such as bullying, harassment, hate incidents, sexual violence, domestic abuse or discrimination. Our dedicated Sexual and Domestic Violence Response Advisor, Sarah Wratten, helps promote safety, inclusivity and respect across our community. Together, these help enable us to address such behaviours and put mitigations in place.
What are conditions of registration?
The University is registered with and regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). All institutions registered with the OfS must meet a variety of conditions of registration, and E6 is the newest. Read more about conditions of registration on the OfS website.
New Personal Relationships Policy coming soon
Alongside the new guidance and training, the University is also updating its existing policy on personal relationships between staff, and between staff and students. The policy, which sets out expectations around intimate relationships, aims to help safeguard and protect students and staff from inappropriate behaviour. The updated policy will outline the requirement to declare relevant existing and new intimate relationships and provides a new electronic declaration process for staff and students to do this. Further information about the new policy will be available shortly.