The National Student Survey (NSS) seeks to understand whether you have experienced either sexual harassment and/or sexual violence  (also known as “sexual misconduct”) since becoming a student. This could be within the university, at other sites or events unconnected to the university.

This information will help show how often sexual misconduct happens and where to focus efforts to stop it.

All answers will be anonymised. The survey and all the questions are optional.

How to take part in the sexual misconduct survey

The survey is only open to final year undergraduates.

To access the sexual misconduct survey, you must complete the NSS survey. This will be sent to you via email in January 2025.

 The NSS will ask about your learning experience over the course of your undergraduate degree. It will take about 15 minutes to complete.

Once you have completed it, you will have the option to take part in the sexual misconduct survey. There will not be a separate invitation to complete this survey.

Opting out of sexual misconduct survey

We recognise that sexual misconduct is a sensitive subject. I you would prefer not to be shown the sexual misconduct survey at all, you can request to have it removed from your NSS by emailing Ipsos at: thestudentsurvey@ipsos.com.

If you need any support or advice about sexual misconduct, visit our webpage for guidance and support.

Who is running the sexual misconduct survey

Ipsos, an independent research agency, will conduct this survey. It is commissioned on behalf of the Office for Students (OfS), the regulator of higher education in England. Their student guide to harassment and sexual misconduct has for more information about their work in this area.

Data protection for sexual misconduct survey

Personal data is held in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

All responses will be anonymised. Any personally identifiable data will be securely deleted by Ipsos after the survey closes and will not be shared with any third parties.

This survey, like the NSS, is done in the public interest. The OfS’s privacy notice explains more about how they use personal data. The data used for the sexual misconduct survey is drawn from the data collected for the NSS. NSS’s data process is available on their privacy policy page.