Student Policies and Regulations

Dignity and Respect

This policy can be used to help deal with any form of bullying and harassment at the Open University.

The Dignity and Respect policy replaces the previous Student Code for Dealing with Bullying and Harassment to clarify the responsibility of reporting and taking action in cases of bullying and harassment by students against staff or fellow students and is aligned to the new Staff Bullying and Harassment Policy. The policy applies to all forms of bullying and harassment occurring in OU contexts, including residential schools, tutorials, day schools and research supervision sessions. Part 1 sets out the policy and Part 2 covers the procedures for taking informal and formal action, and sources of support.

Cases of alleged serious criminal offence, such as physical and sexual assault, must be immediately reported to the police. In such cases the University will take no action under this policy (other than suspension, if considered necessary) until the outcome of any criminal investigation is known.

In an emergency:

If you are concerned that a child, young person, or vulnerable adult is in possible IMMEDIATE danger - including risk of suicide, please contact the Emergency Services by telephoning 999 or 112 from outside the UK.

If the individual is under 18 you must then email details about the incident to Safeguarding-Referrals@open.ac.uk. If you cannot send an email, call +44(0) 1908 858284 and leave a message and the Safeguarding Referrals Team will contact you during standard business hours.

Note: Students can obtain this procedure in alternative formats, discuss reasonable adjustments and additional support you may need due to a disability by contacting the Strategy and Quality Development Team in Academic Services.