Universities should be places where ideas are tested, debated and challenged.
Where young people from every background feel confident to speak, learn and belong.
For Jewish students today, that promise is too often being broken.
The findings from this week’s Union of Jewish Students’ report lay bare the impact of antisemitism on campuses. Students report experiencing verbal abuse, intimidation and even physical assault. There are also deeply concerning accounts of individuals being unwilling to house-share with Jewish students, alongside the presence of slogans on campus that glorify Hamas and Hezbollah.
These are not isolated incidents.
They paint a troubling picture of behaviour that is becoming normalised in spaces that should stand firmly against it.
Antisemitic abuse and intimidation has no place on our university campuses.
We are proud that freedom of speech is fundamental to our British higher education system – but there can be no ambiguity when it comes to glorifying terrorism or harassment of Jewish students.
Universities have long been places of passionate debate. They should remain so. But debate must never cross the line into harassment, threats or abuse towards students because of who they are.
Every student deserves to walk onto campus knowing they will be treated with dignity and respect.
That is why the government has taken steps to strengthen how universities respond when those standards are not met.
Earlier this month, we set out new measures to help universities tackle extremism on campus. The Office for Students will strengthen how it monitors whether universities are meeting their Prevent duties, ensuring institutions take action when serious concerns arise.
We will also issue updated guidance on how universities manage external speakers and events, supporting them to intervene where lawful debate crosses into unlawful activity or support for terrorism.
And we are working with students themselves to co-design a Campus Cohesion Charter, to develop behaviours that help students build and share a cohesive community within and beyond campus.
This work builds on progress already underway with a £1 million investment for the Union of Jewish Students to better equip universities to tackle antisemitism. The priority now is to sustain that momentum, continuing to work closely with UJS to ensure real impact on campus.
These measures form part of a wider effort across government to strengthen social cohesion and ensure that extremism has no place in our communities.
But the work does not start at university.
I have asked Sir David Bell to lead a review into antisemitism in schools and colleges, so that institutions are better equipped to prevent, identify and respond to antisemitism and all other forms of hatred and prejudice.
Education has always been about more than academic achievement. It is about the values we pass on to the next generation – respect, tolerance and the ability to disagree without dehumanising one another.
Those values must be visible on our campuses.
Jewish students should feel able to express their identities openly at university. They should be able to wear religious symbols, attend Jewish societies and take part in debate without fear of intimidation or exclusion.
The findings in this report are a stark reminder that we must go further to make that a reality.
Universities, regulators, government and students themselves all have a role to play.
University should be a place where every student – of all faiths and none – can learn, question and thrive.
And where hatred and intimidation are never allowed to take root.
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