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England’s higher education regulator has said it is writing to institutions that have transgender equality policies similar to the University of Sussex, which was handed a record £585,000 fine last month for failing to uphold freedom of speech.
The Office for Students (OfS) said it would not yet name the vice-chancellors being contacted, “but we will be writing to a handful of providers where we have identified that they have – on the face of it – similar policies in this area to Sussex”.
The scale of Sussex’s fine, 15 times larger than any previous penalty levied by the OfS, sent shock waves through the education sector, prompting many universities to review their own policies and contact lawyers for advice.
The OfS judgment followed a three-and-a-half year investigation into the university’s treatment of Kathleen Stock, who resigned from her position as a philosophy professor at Sussex after she became the target of protests over her views on gender identification and transgender rights.
Following the ruling, Stock said many institutions still had policies “with the very clauses the OfS has ruled against”. A number of institutions have since taken down their trans and non-binary equality policies while the content is reviewed.
A statement on the University of Bristol website, for example, said: “Please note that university guidance and policy related to trans and non-binary inclusion are currently being reviewed in light of the ruling by the Office for Students of 26 March 2025.”
On Monday, Times Higher Education (THE) reported it had seen a letter to vice-chancellors from Arif Ahmed, the OfS’s director for free speech and academic freedom, which urged universities to consider whether they were meeting their own regulatory obligations in light of the Sussex investigation.
It said that Ahmed wrote: “If you are not doing so already, I encourage you to review relevant policies in light of the OfS’s findings … and consider the steps you may need to take to ensure the university is meeting its regulatory obligations in these areas.
“I am keen to meet you to discuss the steps you are taking and would be pleased to support your work in an appropriate way.”
The letter goes on: “We took action to ensure that students have a high-quality education and are exposed to a wide range of academic thought and argument.
“Our action also ensures that academic staff can teach and research lawful topics with confidence, even if they are controversial.
“The OfS’s interest is in ensuring the protection and promotion of lawful speech – irrespective of the views expressed.”
It was not clear how many universities received the letter.
The OfS ruling against Sussex focused on a trans and non-binary equality policy statement passed in 2018, which the regulator argued had “a chilling effect” that could result in self-censorship by staff and students. One of the clauses required academics to “positively represent trans people and trans lives” in course materials.
Sussex was planning to take legal action to overturn the fine. It claimed the OfS’s findings meant it was now all but impossible for universities to prevent abuse, harassment or bullying on campuses.
An OfS spokesperson said: “It is important to emphasise that none of this means providers can’t have policies which set out how they will protect students from harassment – indeed, our new harassment condition will require them to do so.”
