University wins challenge to freedom of speech fine

The University of Sussex, which was fined a record £585,000 for failing to uphold freedom of speech, has won a legal challenge against the fine.

The fine was issued in March 2025 by the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator. They found that the university failed to uphold freedom of speech regarding their policy statement about trans and non-binary equality. The OfS said that the statement, which included requirements to “positively represent trans people” and warnings against “transphobic propaganda”, had a “chilling” effect on free speech.

The OfS investigation began with the resignation of Professor Kathleen Stock, who left the university in 2021 after being accused of transphobia over her views on sex and gender. The OfS was given powers to issue fines where freedom of speech was not upheld in January 2025. Since the fine was issued the OfS have been given even greater powers, with a complaints system coming into effect next year that would give it the ability to issue multi-million pound fines.

The fine has been overturned by a High Court ruling that questioned whether the OfS had followed correct procedure in issuing the fine. The case did not consider the circumstances of Prof Stock’s resignation, only how the OfS had come to the conclusion about issuing the fine.

In the High Court, the University of Sussex argued that the equality statement was not a ‘governing document’ and did not have the significance that the OfS attached to it.

The Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sussex, Professor Sasha Roseneil, said: “It is a devastating indictment of the impartiality and competence of the OfS, implicating its operations, leadership, governance, and strategy. It raises important and urgent questions for the government as it plans to grant ever more powers to the regulator.”

Josh Fleming, interim chief executive of the OfS, responded by saying: “Our focus remains on students and the sector, and we are pleased that following our investigation a dozen institutions, including the University of Sussex, have amended policies which restricted freedom of speech.”