Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect and defend academic freedom from authoritarian state influence, in the light of recent allegations that Sheffield Hallam University halted the research of Professor Laura Murphy.

From 1 August 2025, provisions strengthening universities duties in relation to securing freedom of speech and promoting academic freedom came into force, along with a requirement for the Office for Students (OfS) to provide advice and guidance on those matters.

The new OfS guidance, published in June 2025, makes it explicitly clear that universities must resist external state threats to academic freedom and that suppression of research because of the disapproval of a foreign government is unacceptable under any circumstances.

If the OfS identifies a breach of a specific or general ongoing condition of registration as part of its enquiries, then it will consider the use of formal sanctions, which may include monetary penalties, suspension from the register or deregistration.

The department believes more should be done to support higher education providers to maximise international opportunities whilst mitigating risk, which is why we set out in June 2025 that we will work with the regulator to set clearer expectations around international risk management, raise awareness of risks and develop advice on good practice.