No watchdog appeal in university free speech row

An education watchdog will not appeal after its ruling was overturned in a High Court challenge in a row over free speech.

The Office for Students (OfS), England's independent regulator of higher education, had fined the University of Sussex £585,000, saying its trans and non-binary equality policy could have led to self-censorship among students and staff.

After the university won the case against the fine and ruling, OfS chairman Edward Peck said prolonging litigation was not in the best interests of students or the sector.

The OfS investigated after Kathleen Stock left her job as professor of philosophy at Sussex following protests by students over her views on gender and biological sex.

In a statement, Peck said: "We want to focus on the future, learn lessons from the judgment, and work constructively with the sector as we continue our important work to protect and promote free speech on campus."

He says the decision also reflected the fact that the OfS will soon have "a range of sharper tools" to help it intervene when freedom of speech or academic freedom is compromised.

Peck said a complaints scheme, to be operational from September, would allow academics and visiting speakers to take complaints directly to the OfS.

Stock resigned after protests in 2021, and the ensuing OfS investigation spanned more than three years.

The OfS decided in March 2025 that the university had breached conditions of registration through its trans and non-binary equality policy statement.

It found the university's policy had "a chilling effect".

The case reached the High Court, where the university said in February the OfS decision had "severe" consequences for the institution and its reputation.

The OfS said the investigation had been "careful and detailed", and "pursuant to a fair procedure", but Mrs Justice Lieven ruled in the university's favour last month and found the OfS "misdirected itself".

After the High Court ruling, Professor Sasha Roseneil, vice-chancellor and president of the university, said it raised serious questions about the regulator.

Peck said the judgment "broadly endorsed" the OfS's approach in its free speech guidance but aspects of it will need to be updated.

The High Court case did not consider what happened to Stock, but rather how the OfS reached its decision over the fine.

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