Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for her Department’s concerns regarding unintended consequences of introducing a statutory duty of care in higher education.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government recognises the importance of ensuring that higher education (HE) providers maintain high standards of student safety and wellbeing. The department’s position is that HE providers already owe a general duty of care to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, they are expected to act reasonably.

Such a duty of care may already arise in certain circumstances, depending on the facts of individual cases.

The department has considered a range of evidence on variation in student support, including official statistics, coroners’ reports, case reviews, and engagement with providers, students and experts, as well as the National Review of Higher Education Student Suicide Deaths.

This evidence, alongside stakeholder and legal input, has informed concerns about potential unintended consequences of a statutory duty, including increased legal uncertainty, more risk averse practice, and unclear responsibilities between HE providers and other services.

The department recognises that statutory duties of care operate in other sectors, such as health and schools, but differences in context, particularly that HE students are adults, and the unique settings of universities, limit direct comparability. The government continues to strengthen protections through the existing regulatory framework, including work by the Office for Students to develop a Statement of Expectations covering disability and mental health.