Disclosure and Reporting
We want any student who is directly affected by, or who witnesses, unacceptable behaviour, to feel able to report it to the university. This includes sexual misconduct and/or harassment. We understand that this isn’t always easy to do, so we’ve created a wide range of ways you can let us know if you have experienced or witnessed unacceptable behaviour. You don’t even need to do it yourself, someone else can do it on your behalf.
Report and Support
If you or someone you know in the university community has experienced or witnessed unacceptable behaviour, whether an incident of harassment and/or sexual misconduct, you can tell us anonymously or provide your contact details through our Report and Support. By making a disclosure through the sytem you are not making an official report or complaint to the university, it is to enable you to access to support and give you options about reporting to help you make an informed decision about whether you want to do this.
If you report with contact details:
When we receive your report, we’ll contact you and offer a meeting. This can be in person, on the phone or on Teams, whichever you would prefer. We will offer support as well as put in place any safeguarding arrangements that might be needed. We can also explain your reporting options to help you to decide on the next steps.
We want to ensure people reporting through the system stay in control of the reporting process as far as possible. However, if you provide details identifying people involved, and the nature of your report raises urgent concerns about risk to you or others, we may judge that action is required even if you are not requesting action be taken at this point. Wherever possible, we will discuss this with you first and keep you informed about what is happening.
If you report anonymously:
We will not be able to contact you directly and offer you any advice, support, or updates on any investigation. However, we may still investigate the report, depending on the seriousness of the matters described. Anonymous disclosures, like named ones, can also enable us to better understand the issues within our community.
More information on disclosure and reporting can be found here:
Non-Academic student misconduct:
If you have made a report about serious misconduct of another student, the team will talk to you about the option of an investigation under the university’s Student Code of Conduct (non-academic). To help with understanding the conduct process, we have created guidance for students who choose to make a report of unacceptable behaviour by another student and guidance for those students who are asked to respond to reports about their behaviour.
Confidentiality
We will ensure there is an appropriate level of confidentiality to those involved that is sufficient to allow for an effective investigation. Any statement and relevant evidence obtained during a formal investigation process, will be shared with the reported student, including the name of the person who provided the statement.
Staff misconduct
If you have made a report about unacceptable behaviour by a staff member, you will be informed about the option to use the procedure for student dignity complaints about staff by students.
Third party misconduct
If you are reporting concerns about someone who is not a student or member of staff, then, as well as providing you with support, we will discuss other reporting options with you, which might include the police or other external agencies.
Police reporting
The university has a data sharing agreement with Nottinghamshire Police. Should you choose to report an incident to the police, the university will request information from the police to inform appropriate next steps. For example, if an allegation of student misconduct is reported to the police, the university will assess whether any precautionary measures are needed and whether the disciplinary process should be paused until the criminal process is complete.
Further information
The Report and Support webpages provide comprehensive information about people you can contact regarding the issues affecting you, including specialist support services inside and outside of the university. Within the university, you can also consider speaking to:
Sexual violence liaison officer (SVLO) (accessed through a Report and Support)
Residential experience team (ResX)
Campus security
Wellbeing
Chaplaincy and faith support
Dignity advisor
Students' union advice
We are aware that some students may not feel confident that they can use Report and Support or other reporting tools. We closely monitor and consistently review our work so that we can build trust and transparency with all members of our community.
To help reduce barriers to reporting, there is the option to report anonymously, flowcharts showing what happens when you submit a report, and use of inclusive imagery.
We also provide information about how to get support to complete the form, and host drop-in sessions so you can talk to the Report and Support team before making a report. There is more information about the team and how we work on the Report and Support webpages. If you choose to have an in-person meeting, we will send you information about where we work so you know what to expect ahead of the meeting.
It is important to us that we provide visible and authentic mechanisms for everyone to be supported if they have experienced or witnessed harassment or sexual misconduct. We proactively seek feedback from people using the system, and are also consulting with students to better understand barriers to reporting and how we can overcome them.