The University is reviewing its policy on staff/student relationships in line with regulatory requirements from the Office for Students.
The University is reviewing its policy on staff/student relationships in line with regulatory requirements from the Office for Students (Condition E6).
The recommended approach (Option 2) involves a ban on relationships between students and relevant staff members (those with direct academic, pastoral, or professional responsibilities for students) along with stronger expectations for all other staff and a mandatory disclosure process. Although this is a University-led policy, the Union of Students want to ensure that your views are considered before the final decision is made. Your feedback will help shape an approach that protects students and reflects your expectations around safety, fairness, and transparency.
Please fill in this short survey once you have read the two proposed options.
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Option
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Approach
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All-staff ban with exemptions for pre-existing and mandatory disclosure.
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This option would ban any new relationships between staff and students across the whole University.
The only exceptions would be:
All relationships would need to be officially reported (disclosed) to help the University manage risks like conflicts of interest or misuse of power.
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‘Relevant staff member’ ban with exemptions for pre-existing and mandatory disclosure.
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This option would ban new relationships between students and certain staff members – specifically, staff who have direct responsibilities for students, like teaching, providing support, or working in roles like security.
For all other staff, relationships with students would be strongly discouraged, but not completely banned.
As with Option 1, all relationships would need to be reported to help the University manage risks and protect students.
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