The number of cases referred to the UK government¡¯s anti-extremism programme from within higher education institutions has doubled over the past three years and reached a record high, figures reveal.

All English institutions are required to report activities involving the government¡¯s Prevent strategy, which aims to stop people becoming involved in terrorism or extremism, to the Office for Students (OfS).

that providers escalated 265 cases to the point at which a Prevent officer had to become involved in 2023-24. This was up from 210 the year before and almost double the number reported in 2020-21.

Of these, 160 cases led to informal external advice being sought from Prevent partners, and 65 to formal external Prevent referrals.

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Of those escalated by providers, 27 per cent were related to Islamist radicalisation, 12 per cent to extreme right-wing radicalisation, 35 per cent to a mixed ideology and 27 per cent to another form.

The number linked to the far right and mixed ideology dipped slightly on last year, but there was a 75 per cent increase in cases tied to Islam and a doubling in the number of other forms of radicalisation.

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The escalated?cases came from about 28 per cent of the sector, a similar?proportion to?the year before.?

The OfS statistics, which also show how many events or speakers were cancelled across the sector, demonstrate how terror-related concerns are impacting freedom of speech.

A total of 42,400 events and speakers were hosted at English higher education institutions last year.

Of these, 30 events?had mitigations or conditions imposed as a result of Prevent-related risks ¨C?double the number compared with the year before.?Conditions?include measures such as putting increased security in place, requiring tickets for attendance, and ensuring discussions are led by a chair. These incidents occurred at 14 different campuses.

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In total, 1,410 events or speakers had mitigations or conditions imposed, which was a slight increase on the year before. Most of these were not because of Prevent-related risks.?

And 220 speakers were rejected across 24 different providers, which was a 35 per cent fall on the number reported in 2022-23 and the lowest since 2020-21. This meant that 99.5 per cent of events or speakers were approved.

¡°It¡¯s important that universities and colleges promote the advancement of new ideas and robust, productive debate, so it¡¯s encouraging to see most events going ahead,¡± said David Smy, deputy director of enabling regulation at the OfS.

¡°It¡¯s important to recognise that there are limitations to this data. It doesn¡¯t include, for example, where someone has felt unable to invite a controversial speaker, or has voluntarily withdrawn a request for approval,¡± he continued.

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¡°Universities and colleges need to ensure that they foster a culture that values vigorous debate, which might include lawful speech that others find offensive.¡±

Recent legislation aiming to protect freedom of speech in universities has been amended by the Labour government. A number of provisions of the suspended Higher Education (Free Speech) Act 2023 are due to come into force on 1 August.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com