Respect at York
Annual report 2025/26
Respect at York:
an overview
Respect at York encompasses our work towards tackling harassment and sexual misconduct and creating a safe community where:
- We look out for one another
- Everyone is supported to achieve their full potential
- We value principles of equality, diversity and inclusion
- A wide variety of opinions and ideas exist and are expressed
Introduction
This report covers the period from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026.
It starts by outlining the work that has taken place during the first year of the Respect at York campaign, including events and training opportunities. Following that, we share reporting rates, look at how people make reports, what kinds of incidents are reported and demographics. We also look at the action that's been taken following reports. Finally, we detail the support provided to students, including those who have been reported.
- What have we been up to?
- Reporting rates
- Reports and resolutions - in a nutshell
- The action we’ve taken
- The support we deliver
- Looking ahead
- Related links
.
What have we been up to?
Launching the Respect at York campaign
In 2025/26, we launched our Respect at York campaign, linked to our Together York declaration.
‘Respect at York’ pulls together the work that goes on under the Office for Students’ Condition E6: Harassment and Sexual Misconduct, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, and elements of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.
Through Respect at York, we actively encourage everyone across our York Community to think about their language and behaviour towards others and to help to support and embed a culture where everyone feels respected and included.
Accessible online information
On 1 August 2025, we published the University’s dedicated web page on tackling harassment and sexual misconduct. This year, the page has had 3,449 views: the average time spent on the page was 4 minutes and 18 seconds, showing that people visiting the site are engaging with the content and finding the information they are looking for.
Promotion and awareness raising
Welcome activities
Colleagues from the University's Conduct and Respect team had an enhanced presence at Welcome Week activities. This included attending the York SU Welcome Fair, PGR Welcome, and speaking at the Undergraduate Welcome Talks about the importance of consent and respect, how to make reports, where to access support and reminding students to complete the Respect at York online learning.
Hate Crime Awareness Week
In October, our Conduct and Respect team, Campus Safety team, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team hosted a Hate Crime Awareness Week stall in the Library. We spoke with students and staff about how we work to create and maintain a community of respect, promoted our reporting mechanisms including the SafeZone app and Report+Support, and handed out Respect at York goodies.
Student contributions to Respect at York board
Student contributions to Respect at York board
Respect at York stand at Welcome Fair
Respect at York stand at Welcome Fair
National Hate Crime Awareness Week
National Hate Crime Awareness Week
Sexual Violence Awareness Week
In February, more than 100 students and staff joined us for our seventh Light Up The Night walk, to mark Sexual Violence and Sexual Abuse Awareness Week, where we walked across campus holding battery operated candles in a display of solidarity with anyone who has experienced Sexual Violence or Sexual Abuse.
We were joined by University and Student Union support teams, as well as specialist local services including Survive and IDAS.
Training and learning
Staff
Staff at the University are now expected to complete the elearning We All Play a Part: Preventing Sexual Misconduct and Harassment at York. In year one, we saw a 90.5% uptake in this training. 94.5% of staff say they would recommend this course to others (out of 1,890 feedback responses). Staff fed back that the learning gave them an increased awareness of support and signposting and an enhanced legal understanding, that they felt empowered as bystanders, that the learning had given them the opportunity for self-reflection on personal conduct and workplace culture, and enhanced their skills for taking disclosures and empathic listening.
In August 2025, around 25 potential Panel Members were provided with all-day training on Being a Disciplinary Panel Member, with ten staff going on to complete enhanced training from Lime Culture CIC on Being a Panel Member for Sexual Misconduct cases.
In January 2026, 10 staff received training from Conflict Management Plus (CMP) on Facilitated Conversations, in order to equip staff to manage resolution-focused responses to interpersonal conduct matters where the person impacted does not wish to support disciplinary action, or where resolution has been identified as the appropriate response.
In February 2026, Conduct and Respect staff and Student Wellbeing Officers attended training from the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) about supporting survivors of childhood abuse.
In May 2026, the Conduct and Respect team delivered training on responding to incidents of Sexual Violence and Harassment to Campus Safety Officers.
In June 2026, all staff responsible for student misconduct investigations undertook accredited investigations training with CMP.
In July 2026, our Sexual Violence Liaison Officers attended the Out of Hours Support Officer forum to talk about responding to disclosures of Sexual Violence.
Also in July, we delivered training to Wellbeing Officers on appropriately supporting reported students through the disciplinary procedure.
Students
Students are asked to complete two Respect at York online learning packages: Understanding Consent and Being An Active Bystander. On completing the training, they are asked to provide feedback.
Of those who provided feedback on Understanding Consent (45% of students who completed the training), 91% rated the training as “Really helpful” or “Somewhat helpful”, with students feeling the primary things they had learned were where to find support at the University and understanding the law on consent.
Of those who provided feedback on Being an Active Bystander (59% of students who completed the training), 91% rated the training as “Really helpful” or “Somewhat helpful”, with primary takeaways identified as understanding what it means to be an active bystander, how to safely intervene and how to make a report and seek support.
Across the year, we have run six in-person sessions for leaders of societies and sports teams on Empowering Active Bystanders. Of those who provided feedback on these sessions (55%), 95% rated the training as “Really helpful” or “Somewhat helpful”. Feedback shows that student leaders left understanding their responsibility to be an active bystander and how to intervene.
PGR Professional Boundaries workshops
The York Graduate Research School have worked in conjunction with Dr Anna Bull, Graduate Chairs, and the Conduct and Respect team, to develop and deliver PGR Professional Boundaries Workshops, at which attendees were able to discuss and develop a shared understanding of professional boundaries relevant to their context, within the University’s policy framework.
Departments that have piloted this workshop include Sociology, Politics and International Relations, Biology, Maths, History, Environment and Geography, Education and PET.
Reporting rates
"Reporting rates are not measures of prevalence. We know these issues affect students all over the UK and we are pleased to see that our students and staff know how to report and trust us to manage these reports."
Reports and resolutions - in a nutshell
As we launched the Respect at York campaign in 2025/26, we put a strong focus on promoting our Report+Support platform.
This has been reflected in an increased number of reports, and we see this as a success. All organisations and communities have instances of misconduct, harassment and other inappropriate behaviours: at York, our community understand how to make a report and know that doing so is worthwhile. Benchmarked against institutions of a similar size, our reporting rates are the second highest, showing a high awareness of Report+Support amongst our students and staff.
The 750 reports we received in 2025/26 cover many areas of concern. The biggest single category was 'Bullying and harassment' with 275 cases - reflecting areas of national division and the geopolitical context but also a recognition that these behaviours are not acceptable. 300 cases were categorised as 'Other' covering issues like noise complaints, use of drugs or smoking in accommodation. Just over 22% of reports made related to physical or sexual violence, sexual harassment or stalking.
The majority of people using Report+Support report with their contact details (77.5% in 2025/26, up from 73.5% the previous year). This means we're better able to investigate and offer support - it also shows trust in the system. Anonymous reports are more common in reports of anti-social behaviour but we've also seen an increase in anonymous reports citing bullying and harassment - many of these relate to to social media posts seen as politically controversial.
We work separately with those making reports and those who have been reported, following University processes, to reach a resolution in each issue. Where a finding of misconduct is reached, we have a range of sanctions available from informal warnings up to exclusion from the University. There may be multiple sanctions for a single case of misconduct and they will always reflect the severity of the incident.
Note: Due to the numbers involved, data throughout this report follows HESA's Standard Rounding Methodology:
- Counts of people are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5
- Any number lower than 2.5 is rounded to 0
The purpose of this rounding methodology is to reduce the risk of identifying individuals from published figures. It may mean that some of the numbers given don't appear to add up.
| Home Consumption (kW) | |
|---|---|
| 21/22 | 360 |
| 22/23 | 380 |
| 23/24 | 395 |
| 24/25 | 485 |
| 25/26 | 750 |
Overall reporting rates
In 2025/26, 750 unique submissions were made through Report+Support, a 54.5% increase from the same period of time in 2022/23 from 485.
This represents the most significant increase in reporting year-on-year since Report+Support was introduced.
This increase can be understood as a direct result of the increased awareness raising activity through the Respect at York campaign and learning, but can also be reasonably understood to reflect the national and global sociopolitical context of 2025/26.
This high level of reporting should not be mistaken for high prevalence. High reporting shows that our students, staff, and others in the community know how to report, and trust us to receive and manage these reports. We have made specific efforts to communicate the value of reporting to our community of staff and students and welcome high reporting rates.
Overall reports each month, for academic years from 2021/22 to 2025/26
Overall reports each month, for academic years from 2021/22 to 2025/26
How are people choosing to report?
We continue to see the majority of people using Report+Support choosing to make reports with contact details as opposed to submitting anonymous reports, with 77.5% making named reports (an increase from 73.5% in 2024/25).
Reporting routes 2025/26
Reporting routes 2025/26
While anonymous submissions do not typically lead to direct action being taken, we complete a thorough assessment of every anonymous report to ensure that we are taking appropriate action where possible, which may include safeguarding referrals, checking CCTV, and so on.
In 2026/27, we will be launching new functionality on the system which allows us to respond to those making anonymous reports and lets them reply to us, meaning that we may be able to take still further steps in order to prevent and respond to harassment and sexual misconduct.
What is being reported?
Similar to previous years, the majority of what is reported to the University is defined by the reporting person as Bullying or Harassment.
Types of incidents reported in 2025/26
Types of incidents reported in 2025/26
The “Other” cases here relate to issues such as noise complaints, smoking in accommodation and wellbeing concerns.
In any type of incident, a reporting person can share if they suspect any of the following were a factor in the incident (note that multiple options can be selected for a single report).
Additional factors mentioned by people making reports in 2025/26
Additional factors mentioned by people making reports in 2025/26
As has been the case in all previous years, the primary reason that reporting people feel they were targeted is on the basis of their sex.
Over the year, we saw a particularly significant increase in the number of people who feel they were targeted based on their race, reflecting the national and global climate during this last year.
How are people reporting each type of incident?
Breakdown of reports for different types of incident in 2025/26 showing whether they were reported anonymously or with contact details
Breakdown of reports for different types of incident in 2025/26 showing whether they were reported anonymously or with contact details
A significant amount of the anonymous reports this year (10.5%) relate to ‘Other’ cases (eg smoking, noise etc) as opposed to issues of interpersonal violence, for which the vast majority of reports are made with contact details.
What is notable this year though, is the significant number of anonymous reports which were categorised as “Bullying or Harassment”. Many of these anonymous reports related to social media posts around political viewpoints or geopolitical issues.
Data rounding has been applied throughout this report - see note above
| USE | |
|---|---|
| Other - 75 | 75 |
| PG student (research) - 30 | 30 |
| PG student (taught) - 50 | 50 |
| UG student - 355 | 355 |
| Staff - 235 | 235 |
Who is using Report+Support?
We continue to see our primary users as Undergraduate students, which is to be expected as our largest population group.
It should also be noted that while there is a large number of reports by staff, this includes a significant amount of reports that staff are logging on behalf of students.
The ‘Other’ users here are typically local residents, concerned parents or people who have seen something in an online space.
Demographics of people submitting reports through Report+Support
Note: the sharing of demographic information is optional, and some choose not to answer.
Data rounding has been applied throughout this report - see note above.
Age of individuals submitting report
|
Age |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
17 or under |
0 |
- |
|
18 - 21 years |
315 |
42% |
|
22 - 25 years |
65 |
9% |
|
26 - 35 years |
45 |
6% |
|
36 - 45 years |
30 |
4% |
|
46 years and over |
40 |
5.5% |
|
Prefer not to say |
55 |
7.5% |
|
Not answered |
195 |
26% |
Disability status of individuals submitting report
|
Disability |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
Yes |
120 |
16% |
|
No |
355 |
48% |
|
Prefer not to say |
75 |
10% |
|
Not answered |
200 |
26.5% |
Gender of individuals submitting report
|
Gender |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
Female |
350 |
46.5% |
|
Male |
145 |
19% |
|
Non binary |
15 |
1.5% |
|
Prefer to self describe |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Prefer not to say |
85 |
11% |
|
Not answered |
155 |
20.5% |
Sexual orientation of individuals submitting report
|
Sexual orientation |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
Asexual |
0 |
- |
|
Bisexual |
70 |
9.5% |
|
Gay man |
15 |
1.5% |
|
Gay woman/Lesbian |
15 |
2% |
|
Heterosexual/Straight |
255 |
34% |
|
Other/Prefer to self describe |
15 |
1.5% |
|
Pansexual |
0 |
- |
|
Prefer not to say |
175 |
23% |
|
Not answered |
210 |
28.5% |
Ethnicity of individuals submitting report
|
Ethnicity |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
Arab |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi |
0 |
- |
|
Asian or Asian British - Indian |
20 |
2.5% |
|
Asian or Asian British - Pakistani |
10 |
1.5% |
|
Black or Black British - African |
15 |
2% |
|
Black or Black British - Caribbean |
0 |
- |
|
Black - Other Black Background |
0 |
- |
|
Chinese |
30 |
3.5% |
|
Gypsy or Traveller |
0 |
- |
|
Mixed - Other Mixed Background |
20 |
2.5% |
|
Mixed - White and Black African |
10 |
1% |
|
Mixed - White and Black Caribbean |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Other Asian Background |
20 |
2.5% |
|
Other Ethnic Background |
10 |
1.5% |
|
White British |
275 |
36.5% |
|
White - Other White Background |
55 |
7.5% |
|
Prefer not to say |
85 |
11.5% |
|
Not answered |
195 |
26% |
Religion or faith of individuals submitting report
|
Religion or faith |
Number of reports |
% of total reports |
|---|---|---|
|
No religion |
250 |
33.5% |
|
Buddhist |
10 |
1.5% |
|
Christian - Catholic |
30 |
4% |
|
Christian - Church of England |
30 |
4% |
|
Christian - Other |
30 |
4% |
|
Hindu |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Jewish |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Muslim |
20 |
2.5% |
|
Sikh |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Spiritual |
20 |
2.5% |
|
Other |
5 |
Under 1% |
|
Prefer not to say |
130 |
17.5% |
|
Not answered |
205 |
27.5 |
Who is being reported?
Breakdown of who was reported in incidents during 2025/26
Breakdown of who was reported in incidents during 2025/26
We accept reports about students and staff, and also receive reports about individuals who are not connected to the University. This enables us to provide support information for those who are suffering harassment or other issues outside of the University itself, support students to report issues to the police where they wish to, and to understand the issues facing our students and staff in the community.
Of the 50 reports received about UoY staff, 20 were made by students, 30 by staff and 0 from other sources.
Of the 625 reports received about students, 180 were made by staff (however, this is often a member of staff logging an incident that has impacted a student), 385 by other students (320 UG, 45 PGT, 20 PGR) and 65 came from other sources.
Personal Relationship Policy declarations
Five self disclosures were received by HR following the launch of the new Personal Relationships Policy. Of these, none were reported breaches (relevant staff-student relationship).
Where there was an identified conflict of interest, for example a staff - manager relationship, appropriate arrangements were made in each case to remove this.
Data rounding has been applied throughout this report - see note above.
Our reporting rate against other institutions
"Our students and staff have a high level of awareness of the reporting system and are finding it accessible to use."
Benchmarked figures
Benchmarked against organisations of a similar size who also use the Report+Support tool, the University of York sees very good reporting rates, indicating that our students and staff have a high level of awareness of the reporting system, are finding it accessible to use, and have high levels of trust, in that they are choosing to engage with reporting.
For context, 'Uni 1' which has significantly more reports is understood to have added a ‘third reporting route’ to its system in 2025/26 in order to also receive safeguarding reports through the system. This explains why it is quite such an outlier.
The action we've taken
Staff cases
In 2025/26, five reports relating to sexual misconduct were made against staff from either students or people outside of the organisation with appropriate action taken (informal action; formal investigation; formal action).
Student cases
Informal resolutions
In 2025/26, 80 student conduct reports were resolved through informal resolution-focused interventions. These can include facilitated conversations between individuals, informal warnings being issued and/or agreeing explicit expectations for future conduct.
Of these cases, 10 related to behaviour that the reporting person had categorised as “bullying or harassment” or unwanted behaviour from a housemate. The majority of reports handled informally relate to issues including noise, smoking in accommodation, suspected drug use and so on.
Formal Investigations
65 students were formally investigated under the Non-Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Procedure for student misconduct (including six which were initially reported within the 2024/5 academic year and finalised during 2025/26).
- Physical Misconduct was an element in 20 cases
- Sexual Misconduct was an element in 20 cases
- Abusive, threatening or unacceptable behaviour was an element in 30 cases
- Damage to property was an element in 15 cases
- Unauthorised taking or use of property was an element in five cases
- Causing a health or safety concern or risk was an element in five cases
- Operational obstruction was an element in 0 cases
- Criminal convictions were an element in 0 cases
It is common for investigations to include more than one category of misconduct. It should also be noted that multiple reports received can often be investigated as one “case” against the same student.
Case progression
Of these 65 cases, 45 cases progressed to “Stage Two” of the Disciplinary Procedure.
In 10 cases, there was no case to answer and in five cases, the reported student deregistered ahead of the decision regarding whether to progress to Stage Two. When a student deregisters ahead of an outcome, we reserve the right to continue with a Stage Two Meeting/Hearing if we consider there to be a safeguarding or duty of care reason to do so. However, this isn’t the case in every situation, particularly where police remain involved at the point a student deregisters. In some cases, we took action under the College Sport Code of Conduct rather than under the Non-Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Procedure.
Five cases have not yet been resolved because of either police involvement or because a student has been deemed too unwell to engage in their studies or the disciplinary process.
See first table below for breakdown of case progression.
Outcomes
In addition to those sanctions given in cases resolved summarily (ie those where a student had admitted to a Level One offence, negating the need for a Stage Two meeting), the following findings of misconduct were reached at Stage Two (see second table below).
Data rounding has been applied throughout this report - see note above.
|
Case progression |
Number of cases |
|---|---|
|
Cases resolved summarily (level one, admitted) |
20 |
|
Disciplinary meetings (level one, stage two) |
5 |
|
Disciplinary hearings (level two, stage two) |
15 |
|
Student de-registered ahead of scheduled meeting/hearing |
0 |
|
Outcome reached |
Number of cases |
|---|---|
|
Finding of Misconduct following a Level One Disciplinary Meeting |
5 |
|
Finding of Misconduct following a Level Two Disciplinary Hearing |
5 |
Sanctions
The following sanctions were given to students where a finding of misconduct was reached:
|
Sanction given |
Number of cases |
|---|---|
|
Informal warning |
5 |
|
Formal warning |
20 |
|
Contact agreement required |
10 |
|
Compulsory completion of elearning |
5 |
|
Letter of apology |
0 |
|
Other restorative measure |
0 |
|
Referral into another procedure 1 |
0 |
|
Repayment of damage costs |
5 |
|
Suspended charge |
0 |
|
Restriction from leadership positions |
5 |
|
Restriction from living in University accommodation |
5 |
|
Exclusion from areas of campus |
0 |
|
Suspension |
0 |
|
Expulsion from the University |
5 |
1This is typically into Fitness to Practise, Support to Study etc
Note that multiple sanctions were given in some cases. The total number of sanctions is therefore more than the total number of findings.
Student feedback on the process
100% of students who provided feedback on reporting student misconduct to the University agreed after the initial discussion that they felt more informed, felt heard and listened to, had a clear understanding of next steps, felt they had been treated with dignity and respect and that the initial discussion had met their expectations.
Policy updates
This year saw a significant revision to the University’s Personal Relationships Policy, which now prohibits all intimate personal relationships between students and relevant staff, with the exception of ‘excluded’ relationships. To support this policy change, our reporting channels have been updated to allow for easy reporting of breaches.
We also made significant changes to our Non-Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Procedure in order to better capture misconduct relating to image-based sexual misconduct, adding a specific sub-category of “Taking, creating, sharing, or threatening to share, private sexual images or materials of another person without consent, including images that have been artificially generated and/or digitally altered.”
Staffing changes
This year saw the introduction of a new Conduct Manager role and a Conduct Coordinator role within the Conduct and Respect team, increasing the capacity to respond to reports of student misconduct and to assist with responses to reports of staff-to-student sexual misconduct and reported breaches of the Personal Relationship Policy.
The additional roles also mean that we have been able to enhance the interventions we offer around informal resolution-focused action where this is the appropriate response.
The support we deliver
| 2019/20 | 120 |
|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 115 |
| 2021/22 | 170 |
| 2022/23 | 135 |
| 2023/24 | 120 |
| 2024/25 | 120 |
| 2025/26 | 115 |
SVLO support
In 2025/26, 115 referrals were made to the Sexual Violence Liaison Officers (SVLOs), who provide emotional and practical support for students who have experienced sexual violence at any time in their lives.
85 new referrals came through our online referral form, while five self-referred through the SVLO inbox or via a staff member inbox. 10 students were referred (with consent) via email by UoY staff, 0 from external support and 20 re-referred directly, through the online form or via a staff member, having previously requested SVLO support.
Data rounding has been applied throughout this report - see note above.
Demographics of students seeking SVLO support
Gender
Of the 95 students who chose to share their gender, 75 (80%) identified as a woman, 10 (12%) identified as a man, five (6.5%) non-binary and 0 defined as ‘other’.
Sexual orientation
Of 90 who chose to share their sexual orientation,
Asexual = fewer than five (1%), Bisexual = 30 (34%), Gay man = 5 (3.5%), Gay woman/lesbian = 5 (3.5%), Heterosexual/straight = 35 (39%), Pansexual = 5 (3.5%), Queer = 5 (3.5%) and Other = 10 (8.5%).
Disability
40 (42%) of 90 students who shared their disability status consider themselves to be disabled. Of those 40 who report disability, 25 (63%) state neurodivergence (particularly Autism and ADHD) as that disability.
feedback for the SVLO Service
We invite students who have accessed SVLO support to provide feedback on the support they have received. In 2025/26, 10 students provided feedback on the support they had received. Of these (92%) were ‘extremely satisfied’ with the service.
“I’m not sure how I would have navigated finishing uni without her help. I really am so grateful that I’m finally feeling in a place where I can move on and get my life back.”
“I really valued the space to discuss ongoing emotional difficulties and practical questions with someone who has very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. [My SVLO] created a safe space to talk about things that were otherwise hard to say, and provided tools and suggestions to help with processing what I was going through. She was very kind and non-judgmental and made it feel like it was okay to ask any questions or share any complicated feelings”
Support for reported students
Colleagues across Student Life and Wellbeing have worked collaboratively this year in order to standardise and enhance the support we provide to reported students who are going through the disciplinary process, in order that the support they receive is appropriate, boundaried, relevant and consistent. We will be embedding a new model of support in 2026/27, having trained a group of staff to act as named supporters for reported students.
We have also worked with York SU in order to most effectively and accessibly signpost to and explain the support that they offer to students going through the disciplinary process.
Looking ahead
Respect at York is a long-term campaign designed to show how we can respect one another's differences, connect us across our different communities and cultures, promote training and prevention and connect our community to the support available at York.
It’s important to us to share with our community what we’ve been doing and what we’ll be working on next.
Priorities for 2026/27 include:
- Improving completion rates of student training
- Continuing to explore how we work in partnerships with others
- Adopting Report+Support as our platform for Safeguarding concerns, in addition to reports of misconduct
- Expanding our in-person training provision
- Continuing communication and promotion around awareness weeks and welcome events
- Preparing to respond to new Office of the Independent Adjudicator guidance and changes to employment legislation
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