The Behavioural Attributes Framework

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.

Behavioural attributes are defined through examples of behaviours you would see when someone is exhibiting the attribute, these are known as positive indicators within the University's framework. Each attribute is, therefore, a collection of related positive indicators.

The University of Cambridge Behavioural Attributes Framework requires a number of levels because the framework covers a wide range of roles, with differing requirements and responsibilities. Defining levels for each attribute enables different descriptions of behaviours to be given within one framework.

The framework has been developed in house, specifically for the University and contains eight behavioural attributes (as below). The framework has been designed to be compatible with the University's Leadership Attributes Framework (LAF) which has been developed by the Judge Business School and includes the attributes required by senior leaders across the University.

Within the University of Cambridge Behavioural Attributes Framework, there are four levels for each attribute - levels A, B, C and D; level A is the highest level within each. The exception to this is the Valuing Diversity attribute which has only level A - this level applies to all grades. 

Different levels have been identified for each grade. See behavioural attributes by grade  for more information and self-assessment tools.

The eight attributes in the University of Cambridge Behavioural Attributes Framework are: