Universities are and must remain the natural home of free speech. The concepts of academic freedom and freedom of speech are central to the work that universities do.
This central tenet of university life, rarely noticed or discussed by outsiders, has found itself at the centre of public concern and contention. And it’s safe to say that the media’s coverage of the topic hasn’t always shown universities in their best light.
Despite the media noise, universities generally feel that they have done a pretty good job of protecting the principles of free speech and academic freedom, and work hard to promote speech and academic freedom on their campuses. This has been well demonstrated in this year’s National Student Survey results, which show that 86 per cent of students agree that they feel free to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs. More importantly, a recent report from the King’s Policy Institute shows that more students in universities than members of the general public feel that they are free to express their views. So clearly there are matters of concern for us as a society, rather than just as universities.
Nonetheless, the government has chosen to legislate through the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will be coming into force from January 2024. So as chair of Universities UK’s advisory group for freedom of speech and academic freedom, I’m pleased that recently we have published a briefing to support universities to prepare for the implementation of the act.
