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July 2022 - Education

Three-quarters of HE students think universities should remove memorials of potentially controversial figures: A survey of students at Higher Education institutions in England has found that 76% believe that universities should 'always' or 'sometimes' remove memorials of potentially controversial figures. This was up from 51% six years ago when the survey was last conducted.

The research by the Higher Education Policy Institute polled 1,019 full-time undergraduate students (44% male and 56% female) between 13 and 19 May 2022 asking for their opinions around free speech.

It also found an increase in the number of students supporting the use of trigger warnings, rising from 68% in 2016 to 86% in the latest survey. Also seeing a rise was the number of students in support of 'safe-space' polices; 62% in 2022 up from 48% in 2016.

The survey found that eight in 10 students (89%) believe that students who feel threatened should 'always' have their demands for safety respected' (up from 68% in 2016). Just 4% said they disagree -- down from 10% in the last survey.

Three in five students (61%) said that if the university is in doubt, they should 'ensure all students are protected from discrimination rather than allow unlimited free speech' -- this was a climb of 24% percentage points since 2016 when 37% said the same.

According to the findings, 38% of respondents said they believe HE institutions are becoming 'less tolerant' of a wide-range of viewpoints (up from 24%), with more male students taking this view than female students (51% v 28%).

While in 2016 the proportion of students who said that by debating an issue like sexism or racism you ‘make it acceptable' was 17% this had doubled to 35% in the latest survey.

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