At Bath Spa, we're committed to ensuring that the whole community feels safe on campus. Report and Support is our online tool to let the University know about any concerns relating to bullying, harassment, abuse or violence

Harassment, bullying and violence are unacceptable and not tolerated at Bath Spa University. We want you to feel confident to tell us if you feel harassed or bullied or are a victim of violence.

Report and Support Report and Support is an online tool for Bath Spa students, staff, visitors and members of the public to tell the University about something they have seen or experienced, and for students to connect with Student Wellbeing Services (SWS), or for staff to connect with HR. SWS/HR can offer appropriate support, including (if desired) to make a formal complaint about a student or staff member and/or reporting to the police. 

How to use the service

If you see or experience harassment, discrimination, hate crime, assault, bullying, racism, sexual violence, spiking or domestic abuse, you can submit a named or an anonymous report. More information about all of these topics can be found on the Report and Support website.

  • BSU students: If you submit a named report a member of Student Wellbeing Services will contact you to offer an appointment to discuss your options.
  • BSU staff: Staff reports are sent directly to HR and are not read by Student Wellbeing Services.
  • Visitors and members of the public: Reports are received by Student Wellbeing Services who will direct your query to the appropriate team. BSU can only provide support to BSU staff and students, but can direct visitors and members of the public to the Student Disciplinary team or HR for reports about BSU students/staff respectively. 

Complete the form in our secure online Report and Support system. You can submit a report anonymously or request a callback from an advisor. 

Report and Support data

Bath Spa University - student data

2023/24
Report and Support Student Data from 2023/4
  Report anonymously Requests for support
Discrimination 6 8
Bullying 1 5
Sexual Harassment 14 8
Harassment 20 20
Sexual Violence 3 3
Other 2 3
Victimisation 1 1
Total 47 48
2022/23
Report and Support Student Data from 2022/2023
  Anonymous Requests for support
Discrimination 7 9
Bullying 6 5
Sexual Harassment 1 1
Harassment 4 7
Sexual Violence 0 3
Other 22 14
Total 40 39
2021/22
Report and Support Student Data from 2021/2022
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 6 4
Harassment 7 6
Sexual Harassment 2 2
Sexual Violence 0 2
Discrimination 0 3
Victimisation 1 1
Other 7 3
Total 23 21
2020/21
Report and Support Student Data from 2020/2021
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 7 3
Harassment 6 4
Sexual Harassment 4 3
Sexual Violence 9 4
Discrimination 2 1
Victimisation 1 1
Other 20 9
Total 49 23
2019/20
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 0 0
Harassment 1 2
Sexual Harassment 1 1
Sexual Violence 0 1
Discrimination 9 3
Victimisation 1 0
Other 5 2
Total 17 9
2018/19
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 2 1
Harassment 3 0
Sexual Harassment 0 1
Sexual Violence 1 1
Discrimination 0 0
Victimisation 0 1
Other 1 1
Total 7 5

Bath Spa University - staff data

2023/24
  Anonymous Requests for support Total
Bullying 0 0 0
Harassment 1 2 3
Sexual harassment 2 0 2
Sexual violence 0 0 0
Discrimination 0 1 1
Victimisation 1 0 1
Other 0 0 0
Total 4 3 7

 

2022/23
  Anonymous Requests for support
Harassment 0 1
Other 1 1
2021/22
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 0 0
Harassment 0 0
Sexual Harassment 0 0
Sexual Violence 0 0
Discrimination 0 0
Victimisation 0 0
Other 0 0
Total 0 0
2020/21
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 1 1
Harassment 0 0
Sexual Harassment 0 0
Sexual Violence 1 0
Discrimination 0 0
Victimisation 0 0
Other 0 0
Total 2 1
2019/20
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 8 0
Harassment 1 1
Sexual Harassment 0 0
Sexual Violence 0 0
Discrimination 4 1
Victimisation 0 0
Other 1 0
Total 14 2
2018/19
  Anonymous Requests for support
Bullying 13 2
Harassment 2 1
Sexual Harassment 0 0
Sexual Violence 0 0
Discrimination 0 1
Victimisation 0 0
Other 3 1
Total 18 5

Student Disciplinary Outcomes

Bath Spa University has made a commitment to publish anonymised data on student disciplinary outcomes. The purpose of this is to increase transparency about such outcomes, improve the confidence of those who would like to submit a concern or complaint and to help prevent incidents from happening.

Penalties issued for sexual misconduct

The University has previously issued the following penalties to reported students in Disciplinary cases where allegations of sexual misconduct have been found to be upheld:

  • Reprimanded
  • Required to write a letter of apology to a specified person
  • Required to attend a specified course (consent training)
  • Required to have no contact, or restricted contact, with a specified person or persons
  • Suspended from the University for a fixed period of time
  • Expelled from the University.

Because the number of cases of sexual misconduct reported via the Student Disciplinary Procedure are relatively low, we are unable to discuss the specific figures of how many students have received each of these penalties, as this would potentially identify the students who were involved in these sensitive and confidential cases, and would be contrary to the principles of the Data Protection Act.

Defining a positive outcome

The University will ask the reporting student early on in the process what a positive outcome/resolution to their case would look like for them, advising them to look at the penalties available in order to manage expectations and allow them to understand what is within the University's scope.

Finding students guilty

The University will find a student guilty of misconduct if, on the evidence before it, it is satisfied on the balance of probabilities of the student’s guilt. This means that on the evidence available, the student’s guilt is more likely than not. This is different to the Police who find allegations to be upheld when there is evidence to prove the allegations 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

Withdrawals from the process

The University has found at times that when a reported student is contacted about the allegation of misconduct made against them -in order to allow them to respond- that student has then chosen to withdraw from the University. When this happens, it is important to note that if a reported student withdraws, the University cannot continue to pursue Disciplinary action against them.

Keeping a record

Where a reported student is found to have the allegations of misconduct brought against them to be upheld, details of the misconduct and the penalty imposed will be sent to the student’s Head of School. A record will also be made on the student’s central University file. The record will be kept on the student’s files and may be referred to for the purpose of references.

Working with external partners

In light of taking allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, the University has at times appointed a specialist external, impartial agency to conduct investigations into reports of very serious sexual misconduct. The University understands the value of being able to carry out thorough investigations, and as such we have appointed a specialist sexual misconduct, Student Casework Investigator who undertakes disciplinary investigations within the University.

Hopes for the future - creating a safe environment

Through the improvements we have made to the Disciplinary process specifically in relation to sexual misconduct cases, the University is hopeful that we will create an environment and community where we are clear that allegations of sexual misconduct which are raised to us, will be appropriately investigated and students will hopefully feel confident that they know their report will be dealt with in an a supportive, trauma-informed way.

Student Complaints Procedure

If reporting students are unhappy with the outcome of the Disciplinary case, they are able to make a complaint using the Student Complaints Procedure within 3 months of the outcome of the Disciplinary case.

In an emergency

For emergencies and urgent help, please call 999. 
You can call Security if you are on campus: +44 (0)1225 875555
For non-urgent medical attention – contact your GP or call 111

For sexual violence that has happened within the last 8 days

Your local Sexual Assault Referral Centre can take forensic evidence (the closest to Bath is The Bridge in Bristol). They can also help with emergency contraception and sexual health testing. 

Do not submit a Report and Support form until after you have received emergency help. 

I want to request that the University takes formal action

Submitting a form on Report and Support does not directly initiate a formal disciplinary investigation. It will connect you to Student Wellbeing Services/HR who can discuss reporting and support options and connect you to the relevant team to take a formal report forward.

Formal misconduct reports about another student’s conduct are addressed by the Student Disciplinary Team under the Student Disciplinary Procedure Policy.

If you prefer to make contact with the relevant team directly to initiate a formal report now:

  • BSU Students: Contact the Student Disciplinary Team on complaintsofficer@bathspa.ac.uk to formally report non-academic misconduct by another student or member of staff. 
  • BSU staff: Contact HR to formally report misconduct by a BSU student or member of staff

We've also included information on this page about the Student Disciplinary Outcomes, which outlines the actions and process surrounding reports of non-academic misconduct.