Regulator will not appeal after University of Sussex won free speech penalty challenge
England’s higher education regulator has announced it will not seek to appeal after a university won a High Court challenge over a finding that it had infringed on lawful free speech.
The University of Sussex took legal action against the Office for Students (OfS) last year over the watchdog’s decision in March 2025 that the university had breached conditions of registration through its trans and non-binary equality policy statement.
The decision came after a more than three-year investigation following student protests related to the gender-critical views of former staff member Professor Kathleen Stock.
A High Court judge ruled in the university’s favour last month.
The regulator confirmed on Tuesday it would not be seeking to appeal.
Chairman Edward Peck said in a statement: “We believe that prolonging litigation in this case would not be in the best interests of students or the higher education sector.
“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.
“This decision also reflects the fact that the OfS will soon have a range of sharper tools to help it effectively intervene where freedom of speech or academic freedom is compromised.
“This includes a complaints scheme, to be operational from September 2026, which will allow academics and visiting speakers to bring complaints direct to the OfS.”
Prof Stock resigned after the protests in response to her views in 2021, with the OfS finding the university’s policy had “a chilling effect” of possible self-censorship of students and staff on campus.
The OfS found the policy breached registration conditions and that the university had not acted in accordance with its internal rules for adopting policies, handing it a record £585,000 fine.
The university, which has more than 19,000 students, challenged the regulator’s decision at the High Court, telling a hearing in February that the OfS’s decision had “severe” consequences for the institution and on its reputation as a “bastion of free speech”.
The OfS defended the claim, telling the court the investigation was “careful and detailed” and “pursuant to a fair procedure”.
In a judgment last month, Mrs Justice Lieven ruled in the university’s favour, finding the OfS “misdirected itself”.
Mr Peck said the judgment “broadly endorsed” the OfS’s approach in its free speech guidance but that aspects of it will need to be updated ahead of the launch of the complaints scheme.
He added: “With a new board in place, and new chief executives joining us in June, we will continue to improve the way we regulate universities and colleges. This is work which is already well under way.”