A university has won a High Court challenge against England’s higher education regulator over a finding that it had infringed on lawful free speech. The University of Sussex took legal action against the Office for Students (OfS) last year over the watchdog’s decision in March 2025 that the university had breached conditions of registration through its trans and non-binary equality policy statement. The decision came after a more than three-year investigation following student protests concerning the gender-critical views of former staff member Professor Kathleen Stock, who resigned in 2021, with the OfS finding the university’s policy had “a chilling effect” of possible self-censorship of students and staff on campus. The OfS found the policy breached registration conditions and that the university had not acted in accordance with its internal rules for adopting policies, handing it a record £585,000 fine .…