UCL becomes the third university in the UK to ban staff-student relationships

University College London is the first university from the Russell Group to introduce a ban on romantic and sexual relationships between lecturers and their students.

By Valeria Martinez

Photo by Clay Banks

The ban, inspired by those in place at Ivy League universities in the US, such as Princeton, Harvard and Yale, was put in place to "help prevent abuses of power and sexual misconduct", UCL said.

The new personal relationships policy prohibits close personal or intimate relationships between staff and students where there is direct supervision.

When there is no direct supervision, a clear declaration of a close personal or intimate relationship between a staff member and student must be made.

Only two other UK universities, Greenwich and Roehampton, have bans on sexual relationships between lecturers and their students, an investigation by The Guardian has found.

"Relationships between staff and students create possible abuse of power, as students who reject staff’s advances or if a relationship ends badly could suffer detriment for the duration of their course," says Tizziana Scaramuzza, founder of Do Better Academia.

While many students and academics have welcomed UCL's ban, others think a total ban is an overstep.

"While I agree that there should be robust oversight to prevent abuses of power, a policy like this infringes on one's human right to privacy and freedom of association," says Dr Maurice Nagington, lecturer and researcher at the University of Manchester.

Breaching the policy will result in an investigation and possible action, ranging from a formal warning to dismissal.