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Parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 came into effect on 1 August 2025. These strengthen the legal duties of universities in relation to free speech and academic freedom. Regulation of the new duties is undertaken by the Office for Students (OfS), which has published regulatory guidance on the topic. The University is fully committed to securing and promoting freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers in all activities relating to academic life. The University’s Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech sets out the University’s values, approach and associated procedures in detail. This policy/guidance/information is currently being reviewed against the OfS’ regulatory guidance. Any amendments arising from the review will be subject to approval being sought through the University’s normal governance processes. In the meantime, this policy/guidance/information is to be interpreted and applied in a manner consistent with the Code of Practice; in the case of any perceived conflict, the provisions of the Code of Practice will take precedence insofar as that is lawful and reasonably practicable. For further information on the new legislation, please see the Governance and Compliance Division website. |
This page provides a summary of the Whistleblowing Policy. For full details, please refer to the complete Policy on the Whistleblowing Policy page.
What is this Policy about?
This Policy details how an employee raises a concern that is in the public interest, and how these concerns are investigated. The Policy is not intended to apply to personal grievances, complaints relating to working relationships, bullying or harassment, or disciplinary matters.
Who is this Policy for?
All University employees .
What do I need to know?
This Policy details how any member of staff can raise a concern which is in the public interest. Specifically, where a staff member has a reasonable belief that one of the following has occurred or is likely to occur:
- a criminal offence
- failure to comply with legal obligations
- financial or non-financial maladministration or malpractice or impropriety or fraud
- academic or professional malpractice
- a risk to the health or safety of any individual
- environmental damage
- a miscarriage of justice
- attempts to suppress or conceal any information relating to any of the above.
The Policy is in line with the Public Interest Disclosure Act which provides protection to employees that make disclosures that are in the public interest.
How to raise a concern
A member of staff can raise any concerns informally with their line manager in the first instance, either in person or in writing.
Alternatively, the following people can be contacted:
- The Academic Secretary (in the case of Institutions under the supervision of the General Board), academic.secretaryWBdisclosure@admin.cam.ac.uk
- The Registrary (in the case of all other University Institutions), registraryWBdisclosure@admin.cam.ac.uk
- If the disclosure is about either of those Officers, concerns may be raised to the Vice-Chancellor, vice-chancellor@admin.cam.ac.uk
- If the disclosure concerns the Vice-Chancellor, the member of staff may raise the concern with the Chair of the Audit Committee.
The Policy details situations where concerns may be raised externally and how concerns are investigated.
Documents
Whistleblowing Policy (webpage) Whistleblowing Policy (PDF)