New OfS Condition E6: What UK Universities Must Do to Address Sexual Misconduct on Campus

Margot Harvey, Senior Legal Analyst

Margot, formerly our Head UK Legal Analyst, is now studying for the Master of Laws (LLM) Solicitor’s Practice Programme at City University of London, aiming to qualify as a solicitor in England & Wales later this year. She focuses on employment, higher education and sexual abuse cases in the UK team.

As of 1 August 2025, universities must take steps to prevent and properly investigate sexual misconduct and harassment experienced by their students.

The Office for Students (OfS), a regulator for higher education, has imposed a new condition of registered universities and colleges, known as Condition E6. The condition came into force on 1 August 2025. Condition E6 attempts to unify the approach of universities to sexual misconduct perpetrated on their campuses.

Sexual misconduct on campus is a significant issue; according to the OfS pilot survey, six in ten (61%) respondents say they have experienced at least one type of sexual harassment since becoming a university student. But in the absence of clear regulatory requirements, the approaches taken by universities are varied and can swiftly go wrong. This is the first regulatory provision has been put in place which deals specifically with sexual misconduct on campus, following calls for further clarity for many years.

Condition E6 provides more clarity about the responsibilities of universities to prevent and investigate sexual misconduct on their campuses, the key tenets of which are summarised below.

1. Universities must publish their policy and procedure

Universities must publish and maintain policies and procedures that set out how they will respond to reports of sexual misconduct. Such policies must be contained in a single comprehensive source of information i.e. a single document or webpage. They should be prominent, public and clear, so students can easily access them.

2. Universities must properly investigate reports

Universities must have a reporting process, and must explain how they will investigate, reach decisions and allow for appeals, including timescales for each stage.

Reporting students, and alleged perpetrators, should be provided with appropriate support. Investigations and their outcomes must be credible, fair and reflect established principles of natural justice.

Students should be told how the university will approach their investigation sensitively and fairly, and how they will ensure people affected are kept informed.

3. Universities must take steps to prevent sexual misconduct and harassment

Universities should take meaningful steps towards protecting students from sexual misconduct, designed to make a “significant and credible difference”. This will depend on the nature of the institution and the severity of issues it faces – at a minimum, universities must understand the prevalence of sexual misconduct on their campuses and which demographics are most at risk.

Relevant steps might be mandatory training for staff and students about sexual consent and bystander awareness. Those people responsible for investigating and making decisions about harassment or sexual misconduct must be appropriately trained to do. All training should be based on credible evidence and evaluated for its effectiveness.

Institutions must also protect students from conflicts of interest and/or abuses of power, for instance, by banning intimate personal relationships between staff members and students.

4. Universities cannot ask students to sign NDAs about sexual misconduct or harassment

Since September 2024, OfS has banned non-disclosure agreements which prevent students from disclosing sexual misconduct or harassment.

Condition E6 adds welcome clarity and will force a university, at the very least, to publish clear policy on their approach to sexual misconduct. For institutions committed to creating safe campus, this guidance will facilitate a comprehensive approach to sexual misconduct and harassment. Likewise, it acts as a valuable reference for students who wish to ensure their university is properly complying with its responsibilities. The flexibility of the guidance aims to let universities to adopt an approach suitable to their size and the scale of sexual misconduct. However, there is a risk that universities will do the bare minimum, and confusion as to how to comply will likely continue to cause problems.