On 1 August 2025 the Office for Students introduced new regulations for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England to prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct. The regulations mandate HEIs to maintain a single, comprehensive source of information on their policies and procedures related to harassment and sexual misconduct, ensuring all stakeholders are aware of this regulation, and enabling simple and easy access to all relevant information, including support.
These are the steps we are taking to protect our University community in line with the Office for Students regulations:
Governance
Sheffield Hallam’s Harassment, Sexual Misconduct and Hate Crime Programme Steering Group has oversight of our commitment to preventing and responding to all forms of harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime affecting members of the University community. The Steering Group reports to the University Safeguarding Board and its work is endorsed by the University Executive Board and the Board of Governors.
Policies
The University's Student Conduct Regulations and Procedures explain how anyone can report concerns about the behaviour of a student, how those concerns will be considered, and the potential outcomes should the allegations be upheld. The Student Anti-Harassment Policy and Procedure is part of this.
Previous versions of policies and a clear summary of changes made, are clearly identifiable and available on a dedicated page within the Student Conduct Regulations and Procedures website.
Staff policies include the Prevention of Bullying, Discrimination, Harassment and Victimisation Policy and the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy.
The Staff and Students Personal Relationships Policy aims to ensure that appropriate safeguards and processes are in place to prevent and protect staff and students from impropriety, bias, abuses of power, conflicts of interest, harassment and sexual misconduct (or allegations of these).
The University expressly prohibits the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases involving harassment and sexual misconduct. This prohibition applies to all stages of the reporting, investigation and resolution process. The University recognises that NDAs can have a silencing effect on individuals who have experienced misconduct and may hinder the pursuit of justice and institutional improvement.
Freedom of Speech
The University ensures its anti-harassment policies for students and staff are managed in compliance with legal duties to secure freedom of speech and academic freedom within the law for its members - staff, students and visiting speakers.
Visible and Accessible Website
Hallam's Report and Support website provides a single source of information on harassment and sexual misconduct for students and staff, including defined terminology and examples of these behaviours, information on training, how to report an incident, how to get support and links to relevant policies and reports.
Report and Support is published on the University's external website and accessible by all - students, staff and the public. It is also linked to from the home page of My Hallam, the student website.
Definitions
We clearly define harassment and sexual misconduct on the Report and Support website, referencing the Equality Act 2010, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This includes online harassment and sexual misconduct, which is covered in our policies.
Communications
Report and Support is highlighted in our Student Handbook and as part of student enrolment each year.
It is promoted throughout the year at key times, such as during welcome week training and induction. We also run awareness raising events and campaigns throughout the academic year on topics such as Holocaust Memorial Day, Sexual Violence Awareness Week and Anti-Bullying Week.
Training for Students and Staff
We have produced bespoke in-house training on understanding, responding to, and preventing harassment and sexual misconduct, which is mandatory for all students and staff.
In addition, staff in particular roles receive specialist in-person training, including regular refresher training, on handling disclosures and supporting those who have experienced sexual misconduct and harassment.
Reporting
Students and staff can report incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct via our online Report and Support platform. Reports can be made on behalf of oneself or another person, either anonymously or with details.
Handling of Information
Information provided on a report or disclosed to a staff member will remain confidential and it will only be passed on to relevant and specifically trained staff members on a strictly need-to-know basis. We will not disclose any personal or identifiable information to others unless we believe there is a genuine threat to a person's safety.
Support
We have a dedicated and specially trained Report and Support team to support students who make a report with their details. This support extends to those who disclose that something has happened to them, regardless of whether this meets any formal reporting criteria, and is available throughout their time at Hallam.
We also offer support for those students who have been accused of incidents of harassment or sexual misconduct.
For staff reporting an incident about themselves to the service, the Report and Support team will offer them an initial support call from where they will be signposted to further help, as appropriate.
Credible and Fair Investigations
Specialist staff are assigned to investigate and adjudicate in cases of harassment or sexual misconduct. Processes adhere to the principles of natural justice, ensuring issues are resolved in an atmosphere of trust, openness and fairness, with proportionate and reasonable outcomes. This includes:
- The right of the reported student(s) to be informed of allegations, including the identity of the reporting person and/or the individual, subject to the alleged misconduct, and the opportunity to respond.
- Investigators and adjudicators will act impartially, without prior involvement in the concerns raised.
- Confidentiality will be maintained by all staff involved, with information disclosed only as necessary for the proper investigation and conduct of the case.
- The right of the reported student to appeal decisions made.
Sharing Outcomes and Decisions of Investigations
We recognise how important it is for reporting parties that they are directly informed about the progress, decisions made and the reasons for those decisions relating to their case or investigation. The extent to which we can disclose outcomes of cases to reporting parties will be determined on a case-by-case basis taking account of data protection legislation and, for students, higher education regulatory requirements.
Any judgements reached as part of an investigation do not constitute a legal ruling on whether or not criminal activity has taken place.
Data and Evaluation
We produce an annual report to give confidence to service users and other stakeholders that we take account of the issues reported to us and to provide information to the University to make process and service improvements.
In addition, we have developed a comprehensive 12-month data and evaluation strategy which uses a range of methodologies. It articulates how our interventions introduced across policy, training, support and communications are expected to lead to measurable improvements in student safety, awareness and confidence in institutional processes.