Free speech complaints: the 90-day clock and the road to April 2027
October 2026. For registrars, heads of governance, casework and HR.
The Office for Students opened its free speech complaints scheme on 1 September 2026. On 1 April 2027, two new conditions of registration follow. Most commentary has focused on the legal questions: what counts as lawful speech, and how providers should weigh it. Those questions matter. But for most providers, the first test will be procedural.
Who can complain, and when
The scheme is open to staff, applicants for academic posts, visiting speakers, non-student members and others such as emeritus professors. Students stay with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. The scheme is free and covers only acts or omissions from 1 September 2026 onwards.
Complainants are normally expected to use the provider's internal procedure first. But the OfS can accept a complaint once 90 days have passed from the start of that internal process, whether or not it has concluded. It expects to complete most reviews within six months, can recommend remedies such as re-inviting a speaker, and normally publishes information about the complaints it receives.
The 90-day point changes the incentives
In the OIA model most providers know, the external reviewer waits for the internal process to finish. Here, a slow internal process doesn't keep a complaint inside the institution. It hands the complaint to the regulator before you have reached a view, and the OfS then reviews a file without an outcome or reasons.
The risk is greatest where free speech complaints don't arrive labelled as such. A lecturer's grievance about a cancelled seminar, a staff disciplinary that turns on social media posts, or a speaker refused a room may each be a free speech complaint. If the route that receives it isn't built to recognise it, the 90 days can pass before anyone realises what it is.
What April 2027 adds
The two new conditions apply to every registered provider from 1 April 2027. Condition E11 covers governing documents and management and governance arrangements, which must be consistent with the free speech duties. Condition E12 covers compliance with the duties themselves, including promoting free speech and maintaining a code of practice.
The OfS consulted on the supporting guidance in September 2026, with a final decision expected in spring 2027. One proposal deserves attention: a justified or partly justified free speech complaint would be treated as indicative of a breach of E12. A complaint is no longer just a dispute to resolve. It becomes regulatory evidence about the institution.
Five questions to ask now
- Can every group the scheme covers, including visiting speakers and non-student members, find and use an internal route?
- Will a free speech complaint be recognised when it arrives as a grievance, a general complaint or an event appeal?
- Can the internal process reach a reasoned outcome within 90 days, including for complex cases?
- Are speaker and event decisions recorded with reasons at the time, by someone with clear delegated authority?
- Do outcome letters signpost correctly to the OfS scheme, or to the OIA for students?
If the answer to any of these is no, that is where to start. Procedures, delegations and training all take longer to change than the months left before April.
Separating the legal from the procedural
Whether particular speech was lawful is a question of law, and providers need legal advice on it. But a defensible decision rests on a clean record: facts established fairly, the relevant procedure followed, and reasons written down when the decision was made. That is where most free speech cases will be won or lost, and it is work providers can do now.