University response to student partner abuse

Overview

Domestic abuse between two students, whether they are current or former partners, sits at the intersection of several obligations that a university in England and Wales now has. It engages the institution’s own student conduct and harassment framework, its statutory duties under the Office for Students regulatory regime, its safeguarding and welfare responsibilities, and the general criminal and civil law that applies to abuse whether or not the parties are students. A university should not treat this as an ordinary “student dispute”. It should recognise that intimate partner abuse can involve criminal conduct, ongoing risk to safety, and a significant power imbalance, and it should respond in a structured, trauma-informed and legally careful way.

What counts as domestic abuse

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as abusive behaviour between two people aged 16 or over who are personally connected, which includes people who are, or have been, intimate partners. It expressly covers physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, and psychological or emotional abuse. It does not require a single incident and it does not require violence. Coercive or controlling behaviour in an intimate or family relationship is a separate criminal offence under section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, and stalking and harassment are criminal offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

For the university’s own purposes, the Office for Students treats domestic violence and abuse (including control, coercion and threats) and stalking as falling within harassment. This matters because from 1 August 2025 the OfS condition of registration E6 requires registered higher education providers to have and to implement adequate and effective policies to prevent and address harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students. A university therefore has a regulatory obligation, not merely a discretion, to deal properly with this kind of conduct between students.

Immediate priorities

The first duty is to safety, not to disciplinary process. Where there is a report or disclosure, the university should carry out a risk assessment as quickly as possible, considering the risk of physical harm, the pattern of controlling behaviour, any history of violence, threats, access to the reporting student, and any children. Universities should be alert to recognised high-risk indicators, and where risk appears high, support the student to access a MARAC (multi-agency risk assessment conference) referral and specialist domestic abuse services such as an IDVA (independent domestic violence adviser). If there is an immediate risk to life or safety, the appropriate response is to contact the police, and the university should facilitate rather than obstruct that.

The university should give the reporting student clear, non-directive information about their options, including reporting to the police, seeking civil protection, and using the university’s own processes, and should make clear that they can pursue more than one route at once and are not obliged to report to the police in order to receive support.

Support for the affected student

The university should provide practical and academic support regardless of whether any formal complaint is made. This can include:

1. Referral to internal wellbeing, counselling and safeguarding teams and to external specialist domestic abuse services.

2. Academic mitigation, such as extensions, deferrals, mitigating circumstances or extenuating circumstances provisions, so that the abuse does not damage the student’s studies.

3. Accommodation measures if the parties live in university accommodation, for example moving one party, changing locks or reviewing access arrangements, prioritising the safety of the person at risk.

4. Timetable, teaching group, campus and library adjustments to keep the parties apart, and adjustments to reduce unavoidable contact.

5. Financial support where economic abuse is a feature, and signposting to hardship funds.

Support should be offered on a confidential basis so far as possible, subject to the limits below.

Precautionary measures pending investigation

The university can and often should put in place precautionary or interim measures before deciding any disciplinary allegation. These are protective, not punitive, and they must not be presented as a finding of guilt. Typical measures include no-contact directions preventing the accused student from contacting the reporting student directly or indirectly, restrictions on attending particular buildings or events, changes to shared modules or accommodation, and in more serious cases suspension or a precautionary exclusion from campus.

Precautionary measures must be applied fairly and proportionately. The university should base them on a documented risk assessment, keep them under review, apply them for no longer than necessary, and give the student subject to them a genuine opportunity to make representations, even if that opportunity comes shortly after the measure is imposed where urgency requires immediate action. Even-handed measures such as a mutual no-contact direction can sometimes be justified, but the university should be careful not to treat a victim and an alleged perpetrator as equally responsible where the evidence points to abuse, because doing so can itself be harmful.

Investigation and disciplinary process

If the reporting student wishes to pursue a complaint, the alleged conduct will usually fall within the university’s student disciplinary or misconduct regulations, and increasingly within a dedicated harassment or sexual misconduct policy. The university should investigate on the civil standard, the balance of probabilities, and should not require a criminal conviction before acting, because its process is separate from and additional to the criminal justice system.

Several points are important for fairness and defensibility:

The university must run a process that is fair to both students. The accused student is entitled to know the allegations, to see the substance of the evidence, to respond, and to a decision by an impartial decision-maker. Failure to do this exposes the outcome to internal appeal and to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

The university should not automatically accept the label “domestic abuse” or “coercive control” without identifying the specific facts alleged, because coercive control in particular depends on a pattern of behaviour and its effect. Equally, it should not dismiss a report simply because there is no single serious incident, since abuse frequently consists of an accumulation of controlling acts. Some conduct may have an innocent or contested explanation, for example messages said to be harassment may be part of a genuinely disputed break-up, and the investigation exists precisely to establish what happened.

If there is a parallel police investigation, the university does not have to halt its own process, but it should take advice, avoid prejudicing a criminal investigation, and be careful about compelling the accused student to answer questions that might incriminate them in criminal proceedings. Coordination with the police, and pausing certain steps where the police request it, is common in practice.

Where a report involves both parties as students, the university must manage its duties to each of them, keeping their processes appropriately separate and ensuring that one student’s status as a witness or complainant is not used against them.

Confidentiality, data protection and information sharing

The university should respect the reporting student’s confidentiality and autonomy as far as possible, but confidentiality is not absolute. Where there is a serious risk to the life or safety of the student or others, the university may need to share information with the police or other agencies, and data protection law permits sharing that is necessary to protect vital interests or to prevent serious harm. The university should be transparent with the student about what will be shared and why, and should avoid acting against the student’s wishes except where safety genuinely requires it.

Regulatory and policy compliance

Under OfS condition E6 and the accompanying statement of expectations, the university should have a clear, accessible and comprehensive policy covering domestic abuse and coercive control, staff training so that disclosures are handled sensitively, clear reporting routes, a fair investigation and decision-making framework, and appropriate support and protective measures. The university should also address the risk that an abuser uses university processes themselves as a tool of control, for example by making retaliatory or vexatious counter-complaints, and should be alert to this pattern. Sector guidance such as the OfS-referenced domestic abuse policy guidance for UK universities is a useful benchmark for what an adequate policy looks like.

Signposting to external remedies

The university should make the affected student aware that its own process is not the only route and cannot provide criminal or civil remedies. It should signpost the option of reporting to the police, and the availability of civil protective orders such as a non-molestation order or occupation order under the Family Law Act 1996, and the newer domestic abuse protection notices and orders being rolled out under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. It should also signpost specialist services, for example the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and local domestic abuse services, and organisations such as Refuge, Women’s Aid, and Men’s Advice Line, without steering the student toward any one option.

Practical checklist for the university

1. Treat safety and risk assessment as the first priority, and involve specialist services and, where appropriate, the police.

2. Offer support and academic and accommodation adjustments to the affected student regardless of whether a formal complaint is made.

3. Consider proportionate, reviewable precautionary measures such as no-contact directions and separation of the parties, documented against a risk assessment.

4. Run a fair, impartial investigation on the balance of probabilities, giving both students proper procedural fairness, and coordinate with any police investigation.

5. Handle confidentiality and information sharing lawfully, sharing without consent only where safety genuinely requires it.

6. Ensure the response complies with OfS condition E6 and the university’s own harassment and domestic abuse policy, and signpost external criminal and civil remedies and specialist support.

Key missing facts that affect the answer

The right response will depend on several things you have not specified: whether the students still live together or in university accommodation, whether the abuse is ongoing or historic, whether there has been physical violence or threats as opposed to a contested account of controlling behaviour, whether either party has already involved the police or obtained a protective order, whether the reporting student wants a formal investigation or only support, and what the university’s own regulations and harassment policy actually say. If you tell me which of these apply, I can be more specific about the university’s obligations and the most sensible sequence of steps in the particular situation.