Pass sexual consent test if you want to enrol, say students

Most students believe that undergraduates should have to pass an assessment showing that they fully understand sexual consent before entering UK higher education, according to a survey.

Fifty-eight per cent of the respondents to the poll conducted for the Higher Education Policy Institute backed the introduction of mandatory pre-enrolment consent tests, compared with 20 per cent who were opposed. Female students were particularly likely to express strong support.

The results were released on 29 April, after the publication on the Everyone’s Invited website of thousands of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse prompted calls for UK universities to take action against rape culture. The English sector regulator has told institutions to review their sexual misconduct policies by the end of the summer.

In the Hepi poll of 1,004 undergraduates, conducted by YouthSight, the vast majority of respondents said they understood what constituted sexual consent, how to communicate it, and what constituted sexual violence.

But a minority – about one in 10 – said they were not confident in these areas. Significantly, this rose to 25 per cent when one or more of the adults involved had consumed alcohol. Evidence from the US suggests that at least half of sexual assault cases in higher education involve alcohol.

In addition, about one in five respondents to the Hepi poll said they were not confident about what the law was on sex and consent and how to manage pressure to have sex from others.

A 2019 survey of institutions by Universities UK found that two-thirds were offering consent training to students, but it was not always mandatory or a condition of registration.

The Hepi poll found majority support for rolling it out further, with 51 per cent feeling that sex and relationship education should be a compulsory part of freshers’ week. Only 27 per cent of respondents agreed that their school education had prepared them for sex and relationships at university, compared with 48 per cent who disagreed.

Vanita Sundaram, professor of education at the University of York, who researches “lad culture” in higher education, said it was “positive” that the poll found a “willingness and appetite for engaging with these issues” among students.

However, she warned, a “training course in itself does not automatically lead to changed values, attitudes or behaviours”.

“It is important for universities to create communities in which respect, compassion and empathy are underpinning principles. This might include education about consent, ways to identify and intervene in harassing and abusive behaviours and so on,” she said.

Universities must also have clear and accessible policies on how to report sexual harassment and violence, and well-resourced support for survivors, Professor Sundaram added.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents to the Hepi poll said they felt confident about knowing who and how to contact someone if they were concerned about an aspect of sex, including bullying or coercion, but 44 per cent said they were not.

The survey also asked female students about their reproductive health, and 40 per cent of them said period pain had hampered them when completing assignments, and 35 per cent said they had missed classes for the same reason. About one in 10 respondents said the side-effects of contraception had had a similar effect.

Nick Hillman, Hepi’s director, said the results showed that universities “need to give female health matters further consideration across teaching, learning and assessment”.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com