About #NeverOK

What is the #NeverOK campaign?

#NeverOK is a joint initiative run by  The University of Bath and The SU , which aims to tackle all forms of harassment, bullying, sexual misconduct and discrimination. #NeverOK is also a wider partnership with a city-wide campaign between the University of Bath and its Students’ Union, Bath Spa University and its Students’ Union, Moles, Komedia and the Student Community Partnership.

The #NeverOK campaign works for students and staff to nurture our culture of respect and mutual care, where everyone understands that unwanted and unacceptable behaviour is #NeverOK.

#NeverOK aims to tackle all a broad range of experiences, which includes (but is not limited to):

  • bullying
  • discrimination
  • domestic abuse
  • harassment
  • hate crimes and incidents
  • microaggressions
  • sexual misconduct
  • spiking
  • stalking
  • violence and threats of violence

Recent #NeverOK Campaign Highlights

It’s been a busy and rewarding year for the #NeverOK campaign, with lots of new activity across campus, in the city, and in collaboration with our student community. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to recently.

Welcoming New Students
As part of induction, students are asked to completed two online learning modules: Active Consent and Active Respect. During Welcome 2024 we saw a huge increase in our student community’s engagement and response to these e-modules:

  • 68% of all new undergraduate and postgraduate taught students completed the Active Respect module – a huge jump from 13.4% in 2023.
  • 74% of PGR students completed the PGR tailored version of the Active Respect module.
  • 42% of all new students completed the Active Consent module, up from 23.6% in 2023.

We also saw strong improvements in student confidence when dealing with bystander situations, as shown by our pre- and post-module surveys.

Over the summer we’ve reviewed and made further improvements to our e-modules based on student feedback and so are looking forward to support more students to complete them in Welcome 2025.

The staff Active Respect training module has also been reviewed and improved, working closely with staff. This new module will be going live on 4th August 2025 and all staff will be asked to complete it.

Expanding our In-Person Training Offer
During the 2024–25 academic year, we made significant progress with our student in-person training offer.

  • 1011 students attended training sessions – a 94% increase compared to the previous year.
  • The most popular sessions were on Unconscious Bias and Bystander Intervention.
  • 10 academic departments booked training for their student cohorts
  • Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 89% of attendees saying they would recommend the sessions to a friend.

Student training sessions will continue in 2025-26 and, very excitingly, a staff training officer is currently being recruited in order to provide the same training opportunities to staff, following numerous requests for these sessions.

Collaborating with the City
Our work with the Student Community Partnership (which includes local universities, colleges, and the council) continues to grow. One exciting development was our partnership with a pilot group of nightclubs in Bath. We created #NeverOK posters for display in these venues, helping students understand how to get support if they experience or witness unwanted behaviour while on a night out. These posters also link students to further university support, including the Support and Report service.

We’re planning to expand this initiative across the city in September 2025, so keep an eye out for the posters!

Partnering with Sports Clubs
Working closely with the Students’ Union, we strengthened our partnership with sports clubs. This year, we:

  • Delivered Active Bystander Training to around 80 members of the performance rugby squad.
  • Added the #NeverOK logo to a number of teams' new kits.

We’re now exploring even more ways to collaborate with sports teams and the Sports Training Village – watch this space.

Supporting Awareness Events
The campaign continues to support the university’s awareness and celebration calendar. Recently, we hosted #NeverOK stalls and activities as part of Black History Month 2024 and Campus Pride 2025, helping to promote respectful and inclusive behaviour across our community.

International Bystander Awareness Day
In March 2024, we ran a special campaign to mark International Bystander Awareness Day. This focused on how difficult it can feel to speak up – and reinforced the message that positive action doesn’t need to be perfect, just present. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

We’re proud of what we’ve achieved, and there’s so much more to come. Whether you’re a new or returning student, a staff member, or part of the wider community, see how you can get involved in the #NeverOK campaign.

 

 

Archives