The University of Sussex has successfully overturned a £585,000 fine imposed by England’s higher education watchdog, the Office for Students (OfS), after the High Court rejected claims that the university breached free speech regulations. The case involved the resignation of former professor Kathleen Stock in 2021 following protests over her views on transgender rights and gender identity.
Mrs Justice Lieven found that the OfS’s decision to fine the university was “vitiated by bias” because the regulator approached the case with a closed mind and had unlawfully predetermined the outcome. The judgment also criticised the OfS for misapplying concepts of freedom of speech and academic freedom, exceeding its regulatory powers, and refusing to consider changes made by Sussex or similar cases at other universities.
Sussex’s vice-chancellor, Sasha Roseneil, described the ruling as vindication and called for an urgent meeting with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to discuss its implications. She said: “We need a regulator that works with the sector, not against it – in the interests of the students of today and of the future.”
The OfS’s interim chief executive, Josh Fleming, expressed disappointment and said the regulator would carefully consider the judgment before deciding on next steps. The ruling also raised questions about the role of Arif Ahmed, the OfS’s director for freedom of speech, who had exchanged complimentary messages with Stock before his appointment.
