Whilst student safeguarding is a well-established responsibility for Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK, good practice in online safeguarding
is only recently becoming recognised across the sector. The launch of
the Universities UK (UUK) ‘Changing the Culture’ report (UUK, 2016)1 ,
which examined the experiences of violence against women, hate crime
and harassment affecting university students, called for further action to
tackle specifically online harassment and hate crime. Online harms, well
acknowledged in the compulsory educational sector and exemplified by the
Ofsted inspection framework (2018)2 and the Department for Education’s (DfE)
(2018)3 ‘Keeping children safe in education. Statutory guidance for schools
and colleges’, do not necessarily cease when young people enter into late
adolescence and early adulthood. However, in spite of a duty of care accorded
to universities in the UK to act reasonably in students’ best interests, to protect
their wellbeing and provide support whilst they remain in the education system
(UUK, 2017)4, there remains a dearth of guidance in relation to current practice
and regulation around online safety within the higher education sector.
The tool, developed by the University of Suffolk, as part of the Office for
Students Catalyst funded programme to support good practice to safeguard
students focuses on tackling sexual violence, hate crime and online harassment
and is designed for HEIs to self-review their online safeguarding practice.