English universities should terminate agreements with overseas institutions if they involve restrictions on free speech, according to new long-awaited guidance published by the Office for Students (OfS).
From August, institutions will be required to take “reasonably practicable steps” to secure free speech and academic freedom within the law under their new duties outlined in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act.
The regulator – which will have new powers to investigate free speech complaints made against universities – has outlined examples of various scenarios and how it may expect institutions to deal with them.
One describes a situation in which a university runs a programme of visiting scholarships funded by a foreign government that comes with a condition that “recipients must accept the basic principles of the ruling party” of that country.
