The Office for Students’ (OfS) investigation into freedom of speech

These are the statements the University has made or published on this issue.

The University’s Skeleton Argument for the High Court

On 9 May 2025, the ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« issued legal proceedings challenging the decision of the Office for Students, dated 27 March 2025, which found that the University had breached its conditions of registration. The case will be heard by the High Court in London from 3-6 February 2026. We have published the University’s Skeleton Argument here (link below) to assist members of the University and the public in understanding the University’s case. The University’s legal arguments are summarised on page two.

Academic freedom and freedom of speech are foundational principles for the University and are crucial to our work of advancing knowledge and understanding. Sussex fiercely defends the rights of our students and academics to free expression and academic freedom. We also take seriously our responsibilities to protect students and staff from abuse, bullying, harassment, and discrimination, and to create an inclusive working and learning environment in which every member of our diverse community can flourish.

This is an important case. It concerns the scope of the regulator’s powers and the autonomy of universities to foster civility, respect and inclusion on campus, and it has implications for every higher education institution in England.

The University’s Skeleton Argument for the High Court [PDF 554KB]

Our Statement of Facts and Grounds

The University has produced a ‘Statement of Facts and Grounds’ on the basis of which it was granted permission by the High Court to apply for judicial review. The sections in purple represent amendments to the Statement of Facts and Grounds agreed by the Court following the publication by the Office for Students of Regulatory Advice 24. You can read the statement in full below.

Re-amended Statement of Facts and Grounds [PDF 671 KB]

Our legal case: pre-action protocol letter

On 9 May 2025, the University submitted its application for judicial review of the OfS’s decision. As the legal process has now formally begun, the University will not be making further comment for the foreseeable future.

Pre-action protocol letter [PDF 516.79KB]

Key facts about the OfS investigation

The investigation itself

  1. The OfS has not investigated the particular circumstances relating to Professor Kathleen Stock’s decision to resign from the University. The OfS does not have the powers to investigate individual cases.
  2. The OfS decision relates to one document, The Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement, which was adopted by many universities, and to how this and two other documents were approved. The investigation took nearly three and a half years.
  3. In the course of the investigation, the OfS interviewed only one person, Professor Kathleen Stock. The OfS did not interview her until over two years into the investigation.
  4. The OfS refused to discuss any substantive matters relating to the investigation with the University. The University asked repeatedly (at least nine times) for meetings with the OfS, and its requests were turned down or ignored.
  5. The only evidence of any harm caused by one early version of The Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement was the testimony of the one person interviewed. There is no evidence of harm in relation to the later versions of the Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement. The OfS did not interview any students or any academics at the University and refused all invitations to meet with the University.

The OfS’s findings

  1. The OfS’s findings in relation to The Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement have implications for the University’s ability to protect Black, Jewish, Muslim, disabled, female, lesbian, gay and bisexual, and trans and non-binary students and staff - indeed anyone, including those holding gender-critical views - from abuse, bullying and harassment where it is not otherwise unlawful.

The Trans Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement

  1. The OfS found fault with one University policy statement, which has since been changed. The document was drawn from a template widely used by other universities.
  2. The policy statement was changed in August 2022, which was before the OfS informed the University of its concerns about the document.
  3. The policy was then subsequently changed twice, with a view to ensuring compliance, most recently in May 2024.
  4. In May 2024, the University asked the OfS whether these changes met its requirements. The OfS has ignored this request.

The implications of the OfS investigation

Writing for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) blog, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil sets out the , which she argues are “wide ranging and highly corrosive of attempts to create diverse, inclusive and equal working and learning environments, and threaten university autonomy”.

A message from the Vice-Chancellor following the Office for Students’ report

Our Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil shares a short video message following the Office for Students’ report.

Vice-Chancellor statement

  • Video transcript

    Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil

    Hello, everyone.

    Sussex is in the news today and probably will be for the next few days, following The Office for Students decision to fine us a really extortionate amount of money.

    In respect of what they consider two breaches of conditions of registration.

    Friends, colleagues, students, I’ve been overwhelmed by the messages I’ve received.

    Emails, text messages, supporting Sussex in our stand against The Office for Students here.

    We need to take a stand for the sector and for the right of universities, and indeed, the need of universities to create respectful and inclusive communities, which is put at risk by this judgment.

    We at Sussex remain as always, deeply committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom and to creating inclusive, supportive, respectful communities in which everyone, whatever their background, identity or belief, can flourish.

Politics Home opinion piece

On 26 March 2025, an opinion piece by Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil was published on the .

In the article, the Vice-Chancellor called the “Kafkaesque investigation” into the University "political scapegoating" and warned that the implications for the higher education sector could be dire.

ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« official press statement

Also on 26 March 2025, the ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« issued a press statement in response to the Office for Students’ own  publishing the findings of its investigation.

The University’s statement condemned the findings of the OfS’ investigation, noting that its conclusions could leave universities unable to have policies to prevent abusive, bullying and harassing speech, ultimately perpetuating the culture wars. The Vice-Chancellor said that the regulators findings “will make universities ungovernable”.

Academic freedom and freedom of speech at Sussex

Read more about the ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ«’s commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech.