Message for our community

This message was updated on 24 October 2024 to reflect the latest situation

This page provides practical advice about how we protect the health and safety of our community while ensuring lawful freedom of speech and debate, and highlights support and resources available for our staff and student community.  

We are committed to nurturing a culture of compassion and care, as laid out in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We want to make sure our community is a diverse environment where people and ideas thrive. 

Protecting your safety 

The safety and wellbeing of all our students and employees is our top priority. 

Everyone has the right to feel safe, secure and supported when they are on our campuses and in our halls of residence. 

Our community safety and support team is here to help 24/7. They protect students, employees and visitors from harm and make sure that the campus is safe, welcoming and inclusive.  

Find contact details for the team on their webpage or contact them in an emergency via the SafeZone app. 

What other support is available?  

Our wellbeing services are there for any Imperial employees or students who are in need of support. These dedicated hub pages provide guidance and ways to access support. 

Our Confidential Care line offers 24/7 support and counselling for staff.   

Students are encouraged to speak to their Student Wellbeing Advisor, personal tutor, academic advisor or supervisor if their ability to study or conduct research is being affected.  

Our Chaplaincy Multi-Faith Centre is here to help you thrive, whether you follow a major world faith, have a mixed spiritual heritage or do not see yourself as religious.  

Bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct 

Acts of bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct are not acceptable. Imperial uses the Report and Support tool, which allows you to disclose unwelcome behaviours such as bullying, harassment, sexual violence, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, racial discrimination and more. 

Anyone who feels that they have encountered harassing speech or behaviour is encouraged to use our Report and Support tool. 

Beyond Imperial’s own community, organisations like TellMama or the CST can provide specialist support for those experiencing racially-motivated prejudice or discrimination. 

Making your voice heard: freedom of speech and protest 

We are committed to freedom of speech and freedom of debate and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that members of our community can express their views safely and lawfully on our campuses.  

At the same time, we must all consider the impact of the manner in which those views are expressed on other members of our community.  

Our campuses must be a place where free debate and protest can take place while, at the same time, being an environment where our staff and students can carry out their work and studies safely and without significant disruption or intimidation.  

Imperial will continue to take a stand against all forms of racist or hateful behaviour, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. Any incidents will be taken extremely seriously. Any protest that becomes hateful, unlawful or constitutes harassment or bullying will not be tolerated. 

Proscribed groups

Imperial has a richly diverse community and encourages respectful debate within the law, which may involve voicing political opinions or demonstrating support for certain groups or organisations. However, you might not know that supporting some groups can actually be a criminal offence in the UK. In the UK some organisations have been proscribed by the UK Government because it considers that those groups are involved in terrorism; this list includes Hamas and Hizballah. It is therefore very important when engaging in debate or showing support for a particular cause that you do not inadvertently do or say something that could result in a criminal prosecution.

It is against the law to do any of the following:

1. Belong to, or say you belong to, any of the proscribed groups or organisations (“groups”);
2. Invite support for any of the proscribed groups (that support could be material, such as giving money, or moral support, such as saying you agree with what the group does);
3. Express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed group, or be reckless about whether the expression might encourage someone else to support it;
4. Arrange, manage or assist in arranging or managing a meeting knowing that it supports one of the proscribed groups, or will have a speaker who supports the group, or address the meeting with the aim of encouraging support for the group;
5. Wear clothing or carry /display articles in public in a way that gives rise to a reasonable suspicion that you support or are a member of a proscribed group; or
6. Publish an image of an item of clothing or other article (such as a flag or logo) that gives rise to a suspicion that you support or are a member of a proscribed group.

These offences are treated very seriously under the criminal law in England and Wales, some of which can attract prison sentences of up to 14 years. Under Imperial’s Student Disciplinary Procedure [pdf], conduct that could constitute one of those criminal offences is treated as a “Major Offence” and would attract the most severe sanctions (including expulsion from the university).

You can find out more about proscribed groups and organisations, the offences and their penalties on the Government’s website.