Tasked with ensuring free speech on campuses, Office for Students (OfS) ‘free speech tsar’ Arif Ahmed has stated that student exposure to potentially offensive views is “part of the process of education.”
The comments came as the OfS published detailed guidelines for higher education institutions, including 54 different scenarios for helping their leadership to ‘draw the line’ on when free expression might cross over into incitement or intimidation. The policy is informed by the case of Kathleen Stock, a ‘gender-critical’ philosopher hounded out of her job at the University of Sussex. For failing to defend her free speech, Sussex ended up paying a record fine.
The censorious National Union of Students UK hit back, calling the guidance “just more nonsense playing into the so-called ‘culture wars.'” Its president, Amira Campbell, declared:
Students and academics overwhelmingly already believe that universities and students’ unions know how to do freedom of speech, and there is already plenty of legislature [SIC] around the issue … I am disappointed in the governing bodies who have prioritised this over protecting and supporting marginalised students.
In contrast, OfS director Ahmed warned students
You should expect to face views you might find shocking or offensive, and you should be aware that’s part of the process of education.
The guidelines, which come into effect after summer 2025, also set out how universities should support the right to peaceful student protest.
Last year, the newly elected Labour government ‘paused’ a version of the legislation, on the flimsy grounds that it would increase the workload of the OfS.
