GuildHE Research has engaged with the project leaders and set up this opportunity for our members to contribute to the development of the toolkit.

From August 2025, all higher education institutions in England will be required by the regulator, the Office for Students, to comply with a set of conditions around tackling harassment and sexual misconduct (E6 Condition).

The 1752 Group, a research and campaigning organisation addressing sexual misconduct in higher education, is partnering with the UK Council for Graduate Education to produce a toolkit for higher education institutions setting out what these requirements mean for postgraduate researchers and supervisors.

Addressing sexual misconduct and harassment experienced by postgraduate researchers requires a different approach to provisions in this area for students at other levels. For example, postgraduate researchers are more likely than other students to be subjected to sexual misconduct from academic staff, but there are also very high risks in terms of career consequences for reporting such harassment or misconduct.

GuildHE Research has engaged with the project leaders and set up this opportunity for our members to contribute to the development of the toolkit. PGRs at our institutions will present different characteristics to the majority found in the rest of the sector - being more likely to be mature, female, have caring responsibility, be self-funding, and also employees at institutions. Their experiences will be different as a result, and how institutions interpret and respond to the E6 conditions for these students will need an approach that accommodates their particular characteristics. 

The development of the toolkit would therefore benefit from our collective insights in order to be as relevant as possible to the full diversity of PGRs and institutions. We hope that you can join us for this workshop to learn more about the work on E6 for PGRs and contribute your views.