The number of cases referred to the UK government’s anti-extremism programme from within higher education institutions has doubled over the past three years and reached a record high, figures reveal.

All English institutions are required to report activities involving the government’s Prevent strategy, which aims to stop people becoming involved in terrorism or extremism, to the Office for Students (OfS).

that providers escalated 265 cases to the point at which a Prevent officer had to become involved in 2023-24. This was up from 210 the year before and almost double the number reported in 2020-21.

Of these, 160 cases led to informal external advice being sought from Prevent partners, and 65 to formal external Prevent referrals.

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Of those escalated by providers, 27 per cent were related to Islamist radicalisation, 12 per cent to extreme right-wing radicalisation, 35 per cent to a mixed ideology and 27 per cent to another form.

The number linked to the far right and mixed ideology dipped slightly on last year, but there was a 75 per cent increase in cases tied to Islam and a doubling in the number of other forms of radicalisation.

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The escalated cases came from about 28 per cent of the sector, a similar proportion to the year before. 

The OfS statistics, which also show how many events or speakers were cancelled across the sector, demonstrate how terror-related concerns are impacting freedom of speech.

A total of 42,400 events and speakers were hosted at English higher education institutions last year.

Of these, 30 events had mitigations or conditions imposed as a result of Prevent-related risks – double the number compared with the year before. Conditions include measures such as putting increased security in place, requiring tickets for attendance, and ensuring discussions are led by a chair. These incidents occurred at 14 different campuses.

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In total, 1,410 events or speakers had mitigations or conditions imposed, which was a slight increase on the year before. Most of these were not because of Prevent-related risks. 

And 220 speakers were rejected across 24 different providers, which was a 35 per cent fall on the number reported in 2022-23 and the lowest since 2020-21. This meant that 99.5 per cent of events or speakers were approved.

“It’s important that universities and colleges promote the advancement of new ideas and robust, productive debate, so it’s encouraging to see most events going ahead,” said David Smy, deputy director of enabling regulation at the OfS.

“It’s important to recognise that there are limitations to this data. It doesn’t include, for example, where someone has felt unable to invite a controversial speaker, or has voluntarily withdrawn a request for approval,” he continued.

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“Universities and colleges need to ensure that they foster a culture that values vigorous debate, which might include lawful speech that others find offensive.”

Recent legislation aiming to protect freedom of speech in universities has been amended by the Labour government. A number of provisions of the suspended ����Vlog (Free Speech) Act 2023 are due to come into force on 1 August.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com