Overview

• Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has written to vice-chancellors urging “practical and proportionate steps” to safeguard Jewish students and confront campus antisemitism.
• The Department for Education is funding about 600 training sessions for university staff delivered by the Union of Jewish Students, alongside a £7 million programme to help teachers challenge online misinformation.
• Under rules introduced in August, universities must maintain clear reporting systems and conduct codes, and the Office for Students can impose fines or withdraw public funding if duties are breached.
• Universities are urged to manage demonstrations so all students can participate in campus life, including moving repeated protests that are considered intrusive or disruptive.
• The measures follow the Oct. 2 attack outside Manchester’s Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue that killed two worshipers, and the government plans a roundtable with universities, the OfS, police, Universities UK and faith groups to coordinate next steps.