‘You can’t say that!’ What students really think of free speech on campus

In other words, from this survey alone it is not clear whether the strong push by the Westminster Government and the English regulator, the Office for Students, in favour of more protection for free speech in higher education is a reaction to the growth in less liberal views among students or whether it is in part to blame for students pushing back. [...] Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements on a scale of 1 to 5 – If you debate an issue like sexism or racism, you make it acceptable Events When shown a list of political organisations, a majority of students express support for banning one or more from speaking at higher education institutions, confounding the notion that free debate is the best way to progress the ba. [...] 6 June 2022 If some students or staff are unhappy with a particular event at their university that is taking place within the law, which of the below actions should they have the right to carry out? Use official communication channels outside the event to present their views 55% Attend the event and have the chance to speak 49% Hold a protest outside the event 39% Stop the event from happening 20%. [...] In your opinion, should gender segregation be allowed at official university events where it is a key part of the culture or religion of the student group involved? The proportion of students who said ‘yes’ was 32% (up from 20% in 2016) and the proportion who said ‘no’ was 44% (down from 54% in 2016), with 25% opting for ‘don’t know’ (26% in 2016). [...] We added a question to the survey on this idea, to sit alongside those first posed in 2016, and the answers reveal that around one-half of students (48%) support the idea of a new free speech champion while only around one-quarter (23%) disagree and the rest are uncertain (29%).