Department for Education written question – answered at on 2 June 2026.
James McMurdock
Independent, South Basildon and East Thurrock
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled New powers to protect vital free speech at universities, published on 20 April 2026, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that students, staff and visiting speakers are aware of their rights under the new complaints scheme.
Josh MacAlister
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education
The Office for Students (OfS) will introduce its free speech complaints scheme on 1 September 2026, which will be available for higher education (HE) provider staff, non-student members and visiting speakers. HE students will, as now, be able to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE. The OfS will also publish details of the complaints scheme rules in advance of its introduction in September.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
