Image of Glasgow University main building

CW: This article discusses sexual assault and violent sexual offences.

Molly Finlay

Scotland’s 19 universities will now require applicants to share any relevant criminal convictions and charges, including those relating to violent and sexual offences.

The change to university policy comes as a result of tireless campaigning by Ellie Wilson, 26, who was sexually assaulted by her boyfriend while they both studied at the University of Glasgow.

Wilson’s abuser, Daniel McFarlane, was suspended from the University of Glasgow while awaiting trial; however, he was allowed to enrol at the University of Edinburgh to continue his studies.

Those accused of committing violent offences will no longer be able to enrol at universities as Scotland becomes the first country in the UK to close a “dangerous loophole“.

Previous Policy

Until now, Scottish universities have adopted individual approaches to student application vetting.

This came after 2018 UK data protection legislation forced universities to divert from processes dictated by admissions body UCAS, which had relied on collecting data on relevant unspent criminal convictions at the initial point of application.

“Freedom of information requests revealed that students facing criminal charges were routinely permitted on Scottish campuses.”

In 2022, The Times revealed that all 19 of Scotland’s universities did not require applicants to declare whether they have ever been convicted, charged, expelled or disciplined for sexual offences.

Campaigner Ellie Wilson found through multiple freedom of information requests that students facing criminal charges were routinely permitted on Scottish campuses.

Wilson also discovered that universities did not share information on the outcomes of sex-related disciplinary hearings, leaving offenders able to re-enrol at alternative institutions that remained unaware of their past actions.

Scotland’s new approach

The updated Scotland-wide policy aims to improve consistency and transparency across universities.

Students at all Scottish universities will now be asked to reveal any unspent criminal convictions or if they face serious charges.

The policy will make data collection mandatory for all institutions as part of application processes at the post-offer stage and annually at the re-enrolment stage.

Data collection will also apply to postgraduates.

 “It responds to campaigners’ calls for greater consistency and transparency.”

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: “Most institutions are already collecting some student data about relevant unspent criminal convictions; this project is significant because all of Scotland’s universities have taken the unprecedented step of moving, as one, into the collection and processing of data on relevant criminal charges on a consistent basis.”

“In doing so, it responds to campaigners’ calls for greater consistency and transparency while also addressing points raised by rehabilitation charities.”

“We want to give credit to Ellie Wilson and Fiona Drouet of the Emily Test for their significant campaigning on this issue and for the bravery they both continue to show by channelling their lived experience into policy change that will benefit others,” he continued.

Response to the new policy 

Wilson, who describes herself as a survivor, campaigner and justice reformer, wrote on Twitter, “For too long rapists, including my rapist, have enrolled at universities without declaring their past.”

“After campaigning on this tirelessly, I’m delighted to announce that @uni_scot will now gather data on criminal convictions AND charges for such crimes from prospective students!”

Universities Scotland has said the change was motivated by student safety and work to prevent gender-based violence. However, some legal experts have raised concerns about how universities will handle these changes. 

Former president of the Scottish Bar Association, Thomas Ross KC, told the BBC: “The problematic aspect is what does the university do when they are advised that an individual has been charged with a sexual offence which he is disputing. What do they do with that?”

Ross added: “I suspect a lot of the cases the university will be dealing with will be where the person has never been charged with anything in the past and disputes the allegation that has been made.”

“It’s hard to see how they could make any proper risk assessment when in that situation.”

Universities Scotland stated that universities had sought to balance their commitment to student safety with “their belief in access” and “the powerful role that education can play in the journey of rehabilitation.”

They added that they do not want to “put up barriers to education where individuals posed no risk to others.”

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Featured image courtesy of Johnny Briggs via Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Having recently graduated from an MA in Journalism at Edinburgh Napier University, Molly is a freelance journalist with an interest in politics and current affairs, particularly issues surrounding women and reproductive healthcare. Molly has worked as a BBC Young Reporter during COP26 and has written for Holyrood Magazine as well as Deadline News, with bylines in the Sun, Daily Express and the Mirror.

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