This is entirely up to you. However, there are a few key things to consider:
Yes. Staff may submit reports about students where they have safeguarding concerns, in line with their professional responsibilities and College procedures.
No. Sanctions are put in place against those who are formally reported and found proven of misconduct. These include, but aren’t limited to, formal reprimand, temporary exclusion, formal written warning, temporary suspension, permanent exclusion from specified parts of the College, permanent expulsion, depending on what misconduct the individual has been found proven of enacting. For more information, please read our Student Disciplinary Procedure.
Informal resolutions such as mediation may also available as a different form of resolution if the person reporting prefers these options.
No. You do not need evidence or proof to submit a report.
The information you share helps the College understand concerns and consider what support or next steps may be appropriate.
This is entirely up to you. However, there are a few key things to consider:
The SafeSpace Zone Team will not make a judgement about you or what you are disclosing but will support you, regardless of how much information you are willing to share.
We appreciate that meeting an advisor for the first time could feel like a stressful experience, therefore we have written the online form to give reporters the opportunity to disclose any information that they would like to share before the initial meeting. Each reporter will feel differently about this. Some will want to provide lots of information, others will want to provide no information at all. Either way, your disclosure will be taken seriously.
The Safe Space Zone team can provide information about support options, reporting routes and next steps available to you.
They can help you explore your options and make informed decisions, whether or not you wish to take any further action.
If you report with details, an advisor from the SafeSpace Zone Team will be in contact within two College working days. The SafeSpace Zone Team can:
You can still submit a report if something has happened outside College, online, or away from College‑related activities, if it affects your safety, wellbeing or ability to study.
No. Submitting a report with details is a means of accessing your own personal advisor, and bespoke support. It is not a tool for triggering an investigation under our procedures.
However, there may be certain circumstances where we will need to disclose information that you have shared with us:
Should this be the case, the College might decide to take immediate action. In these circumstances we would look to obtain your consent first where possible and it will be explained to you in full why we believe there is a need to disclose information, and who will have access to this information.
If you do not provide us with consent to share this information or it is not practicable for us to try and obtain it, in very rare circumstances we reserve the right to break confidentiality. This would only happen if there were a serious risk to your own or others’ safety, or if we were compelled to break confidentiality by law.
Even in such circumstances we would do our utmost to discuss things with you before taking action. In the event of a serious and imminent risk of major harm, other members of the College may be informed or called upon to assist in managing the immediate situation. We may also contact external agencies if appropriate.
Please, read our Student Confidentiality Policy for more information.
You can see the questions in advance here.
Throughout the anonymous disclosure form on SafeSpace Zone, we try to make it clear that anonymous reports will not usually lead to direct formal action being taken. There may be certain circumstances where the College might decide to take direct formal action (e.g. If your life or the lives of others is at risk; or if multiple reports are made regarding the same incident or the same alleged perpetrator).
However, without a named reporting party, the alleged responding party may be unable to answer investigative questions if they do not know who the complaint is in relation to or who has reported them. It also limits investigations, as the investigating officer will only have one anonymous disclosure to base an entire investigation from and cannot gather potentially important further details from a reporter if they are required.
Nevertheless, indirect action can be taken on the back of anonymous reports. This can take the form of training sessions being delivered by the SafeSpace Zone Team to particular clubs, societies and departments that are displaying behaviours that breach the College’s regulations.
If you would like direct formal action to be taken by the College, please submit a Speak to an Advisor form, or else we are limited in our response.
No. Over 50% of all sexual violence is committed by acquaintances, and the SafeSpace Zone Team are fully aware of this. College policies and the law make it clear that consent cannot be assumed on the basis of a previous sexual experience or previously given consent, and consent may be withdrawn at any time. The status of someone’s relationship with another person is therefore not important when it comes to sexual misconduct. If consent is not ongoing and the individual does not have the freedom and capacity to consent – then it is sexual misconduct.
No. No incident needs to be physically violent in nature nor leave scars, marks or bruises on someone’s body to be classed as harassment. We understand that harassment can be subtle, can happen online and can sometimes even be invisible to the naked eye or ear. These understated actions would still constitute harassment and can be disclosed via the SafeSpace Zone.
If someone feels that their dignity has been violated, or that they would benefit from the support provided by the SafeSpace Zone Team to help them feel safer and more comfortable whilst at the college, then we would encourage disclosing via the Speak to an Advisor form.
Safeguarding is about protecting people from harm, abuse, harassment, bullying, discrimination, exploitation or neglect, and taking action to promote their wellbeing and safety.
At the College, safeguarding applies to concerns involving students, staff, visitors or others, whether something has happened on campus, online, during College‑related activities, or where a situation outside College may impact someone’s safety or wellbeing. ontact external agencies if appropriate.
Staff should raise a concern if they are worried about the safety or well-being of a student, colleague, or another individual, even if they are unsure whether the concern meets a specific threshold or whether they have all the details.
Safeguarding concerns may include (but are not limited to):
You do not need proof or evidence to raise a safeguarding concern.
Staff who have safeguarding concerns should follow the College’s staff safeguarding procedures, in line with their professional responsibilities.
Staff may also use the Safe Space Zone to share concerns, seek guidance on reporting routes, or access information about available support. Where appropriate, concerns may be referred to designated safeguarding leads or HR.
If there is an immediate risk of harm, emergency services should be contacted straight away.
Safe Space Zone is not an emergency service.
The Safe Space Zone team can provide information about support options, reporting routes and next steps available to students and staff.
They can help staff understand appropriate processes, explore available options, and signpost to relevant services. Safe Space Zone does not replace formal safeguarding or HR procedures.
Yes. Staff can submit a report if they are concerned about someone else’s safety or wellbeing, even if the concern did not happen to them directly.
Reports can be submitted with contact details or anonymously. Submitting a report does not automatically result in formal action, but it allows the College to consider what support, information or next steps may be appropriate.
Yes. Students are able to submit reports through the Safe Space Zone about concerns involving members of staff.
Such reports will be considered in line with appropriate procedures and may be referred to HR or other relevant teams, where necessary.
Yes. Staff may submit reports about students where they have safeguarding concerns, in line with their professional responsibilities and College procedures.
The Safe Space Zone form asks for general information about the concern, such as what has happened, when it occurred, and how it has affected the individual involved.
Staff can choose how much information to provide and may skip questions if they are unsure or do not have all the details.
You can see the questions in advance here.
No. Staff do not need evidence to submit a report.
Concerns can be raised based on professional judgement, observations, or information shared by others. The purpose of reporting is to enable appropriate consideration of support and safeguarding needs.
Anonymous reporting, even with no action taken, is incredibly useful for identifying trends, and informing targeted proactive education and awareness raising. All information collected through anonymous reporting will inform our annual report.
They can inform safeguarding responses, support provision and preventative work, and are an important part of maintaining a safe environment.
One person can submit a disclosure on behalf of a group of reporters and have a group confidential meeting with a HR advisor, if this would make everyone feel more comfortable.
However, the HR advisor will often arrange individual meetings with each reporting party following this group meeting. This is just to ensure that everyone feels like they are able to make their own independent choices and remain in control of their next steps.
No. Over 50% of all sexual violence is committed by acquaintances, and the SafeSpace Zone Team are fully aware of this. College policies and the law make it clear that consent cannot be assumed on the basis of a previous sexual experience or previously given consent, and consent may be withdrawn at any time. The status of someone’s relationship with another person is therefore not important when it comes to sexual misconduct. If consent is not ongoing and the individual does not have the freedom and capacity to consent – then it is sexual misconduct.
No. No incident needs to be physically violent in nature nor leave scars, marks or bruises on someone’s body to be classed as harassment. We understand that harassment can be subtle, can happen online and can sometimes even be invisible to the naked eye or ear. These understated actions would still constitute harassment and can be disclosed via the SafeSpace Zone.
If someone feels that their dignity has been violated, or that they would benefit from the support provided by the SafeSpace Zone Team to help them feel safer and more comfortable whilst at the college, then we would encourage disclosing via the Speak to an Advisor form.
