From 1 August 2025, new legal duties came into effect for universities under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. To ensure compliance with these duties, we have reviewed and updated UCL’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech.
From 1 August 2025, new legal duties came into effect for universities under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 . To ensure compliance with these duties, we have reviewed and updated UCL’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech , reaffirming our commitment to freedom of speech and academic freedom, and promoting the expression of a diversity of viewpoints on campus.
Our approach to freedom of speech and academic freedom
We have a long tradition of safeguarding freedom of speech and academic freedom in our teaching and research. We are committed to providing an open platform for debate and cultivating an atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance to promote the full, free, and open discussion of ideas.
A university should be a forum for engagement, enabling views, even passionately held and strongly conflicting views, to be expressed and debated. The ability to discuss and debate with people who hold very different views is not without its challenges, and it may mean that members of UCL’s community are sometimes exposed to ideas or opinions that they find offensive, contentious or unacceptable.
We believe that an exciting part of university life is the space for lots of different perspectives to thrive. Facilitating debate also allows students to be challenged and to develop their critical thinking skills. In line with this, each year we work with the Students’ Union UCL to support societies, student groups and staff to host thousands of events, many of which feature external speakers.
We view the right to debate and challenge ideas as fundamental to the nature of a university, and we have a clear set of policies to allow these discussions to take place in an atmosphere of tolerance for different viewpoints. We are committed to fostering open debate and protecting the rights of our community to lawfully test, challenge, and disagree.
Our legal duties
Free speech attracts a high level of protection in UK law, and we are committed to upholding all speech unless it is restricted by law.
Speech that is unlawful is not protected and will not be tolerated at UCL. We have policies in place to protect staff and students from unlawful conduct, including our Prevention of Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy.
Our updated UCL Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech and how this should be used
The Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech sets out how we uphold free speech within the law. It applies to all staff, students, visitors, and UCL events on and off campus.
It outlines our values in relation to freedom of speech, how to organise events, what is expected of speakers, and how we balance our commitment to free speech with our other legal duties.
By following this Code, we support our community with the right to express lawful views and to hear a broad range of perspectives. Our community also has a responsibility to abide by the Code and follow the procedures outlined in the Appendix. We encourage our staff, students and visitors to promote a culture of full, free and open debate at UCL.
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