The University embraces and celebrates difference, diversity and debate and strives to provide a safe environment for students, staff and speakers invited to the University to be able to freely express their ideas, however; we recognise that this will not always feel comfortable. As such, promoting and securing free speech must go alongside embodying our values of mutual understanding, respect and tolerance towards each other when sharing our thoughts.

Alongside the University’s Policy on Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, the associated Code of Practice sets out how these principles are applied in practice. Please note that the University is in the process of consulting on the Policy and Code, with any revisions being presented to our Board of Governors in November 2025.

Students who may have been affected by the free speech of others can access a range of support at the University. 

The Office for Students requires us to highlight our approach to harassment and sexual misconduct. However, we support with all safeguarding concerns. The same process for reporting and support via Report and Support can be followed. We are also proud to be working towards the Emily Test charter mark to describe and assure our work in the wider area of Gender-Based Violence.

Our support covers any student with a relationship to the University of Manchester.  This covers students studying here with us in Manchester, distance learning students and any other student on a course provided in any manner or form.  We have written to our ‘partner institutions’ to explain our approach to supporting students with issues of harassment and sexual misconduct, and to provide a point of contact for them via Report and Support. 

Our website and resources are publicly available, no matter where you are.  If you are a registered student, you will do our training and will be subject to and covered by our support, policies and procedures.  If you are a registered student and you have an experience of harassment or sexual misconduct which relates to an experience on placement or elsewhere, you can contact Report and Support and we will work out the best route of support and intervention for you.

You can find details of external organisations relevant to harassment and sexual misconduct at Report and Support on the tiles under the ‘Support’ title.

You can access independent support and advice from the Students Union Advice centre.

At the University of Manchester, we believe in openness, fairness, and supporting everyone in our community. 

We’ve taken a clear stand against using Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in cases involving sexual harassment, sexual violence, bullying, or other serious misconduct. We’ve signed the Can’t Buy My Silence  pledge, which means we won’t ask students or staff to stay silent through legal agreements in these situations. 

NDAs can make it harder for people to speak up, share their experiences, or seek support. That’s why our approach focuses on creating safe, respectful, and confidential processes—without shutting down important conversations. 

If confidentiality is needed to protect someone’s privacy or the integrity of a case, we handle it through ethical and internal procedures—not through NDAs. 

We also consult with students, student groups and the Students’ Union. We collect and publish data on the prevalence and reporting of safeguarding issues including harassment and sexual misconduct (Report & Support Annual Report link) and we continually review our approach, in order to improve our support for students.

The University takes a Harm Reduction approach. As part of this we have a training module on harassment and consent specifically in the context of drugs and alcohol.

In addition, your school or doctoral academy may provide further harassment and/or sexual misconduct training.

All staff members are required to complete a series of online training courses designed to embed the University's values and foster a working environment aligned with those values. As part of this essential training staff complete a course on Sexual Harassment.

As well as the questions and answers built into the training, we measure effectiveness in a number of different ways, including: in-depth analysis of reporting data; discussions and focus groups with users; expert feedback on content; in-depth testing of learning at in-person training sessions.

We are currently working with a team of University of Manchester academics to develop a robust, scientific measurement of the impact of our training offer.

We have an annual communications plan for both students and staff. In addition all students receive information about the Advice and Response team and our single-source webpage within their student handbooks and during the annual registration process. This information is also included on our Student Life webpages.

You can contact Report and Support and ask us.