Sussex University overturns £585,000 fine as high court rejects free speech breach claim

Ruling is blow to Office for Students after it issued fine for handling of protests over professor’s trans rights views

Sussex University has overturned a £585,000 fine by England’s higher education watchdog after the high court rejected claims the university had breached free speech regulations involving its former professor Kathleen Stock.

The ruling is a damaging blow to the credibility and management of the Office for Students, after the court rejected the regulator’s lengthy investigation into Sussex’s handling of the protests aimed at Stock over her views on transgender rights and her subsequent resignation in 2021.