Report and Support disclosures rise yet again for the fourth year running

The University of Warwick’s Report + Support platform, which is designed to enhance safety and support within the community, has released its annual report for 2024/2025.  

Report + Support encourages students to speak up about instances such as bullying, discrimination, and harassment. The annual report aims to highlight achievements and recognise where preventative interventions can be implemented in the future.  

In a foreword to the 2024/2025 report, the University of Warwick’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Stuart Croft, stated that the report is for “demonstrating both progress and accountability”.  

Croft praised the fact that the University is “one of only five universities to have joined the Emily Test Charter Pilot in England, to advance gender-based violence prevention”.  

The increase in the number of disclosures reflects both the increased awareness of the Report + Support platform, and crucially, the trust in it

University spokesperson

The report claims that there were 735 disclosures in the assessed time period, which represents a 23% increase on last year’s figures. In the previous annual report, which covered the 2023/2024 period, disclosures increased by 14%. 

However, a spokesperson for the University of Warwick told The Boar, as they did when asked about the 2023/2024 annual report, that “the increase in the number of disclosures reflects both the increased awareness of the Report + Support platform, and crucially, the trust in it”.  

This is only the fifth annual report conducted by the platform, meaning that rising awareness of the platform over time has naturally led to a rise in disclosures, such as an 11% increase in reports of sexual misconduct.  

However, an investigation conducted by The Boar in July suggested there has been an undoubtable rise in sexual misconduct within the Warwick community, and that the University has not effectively dealt with this.  

This investigation analysed student attitudes and experiences of sexual misconduct, and cited the failings of the Community Safety Team (CST), which is responsible for safeguarding on the University’s campus.  

The CST is only mentioned once in the 2024/2025 report, when highlighting how Report + Support had trained the team in LISTEN disclosure training

Here, The Boar found that only 52% of students would go to the CST about their concerns regarding, or experiences of, sexual misconduct on campus.  

This suggests that a closer working relationship between the CST and Report + Support would enhance the success of the platform and possibly diminish incidences of sexual misconduct.  

The CST is only mentioned once in the 2024/2025 report, when highlighting how Report + Support had trained the team in LISTEN disclosure training throughout this annum.  

The University was asked how Report + Support will continue to work with the CST in the future, but did not provide any further statement.  

The report also shared insight into whether those who disclose an incident share their identity. 147 chose to share their experience anonymously, with a quarter of those stating they were worried about repercussions in their social circle if their disclosure was uncovered.  

Alongside this, the annual report evaluated which protected characteristics are deemed as contributing factors to the disclosures people in the Warwick community make.  

We remain fully committed to working with the Students’ Union, our students, staff, and visitors to continue to tackle misconduct, raise awareness of the support available, and build confidence in the reporting of incidents

University spokesperson

This insight was achieved through asking those who made disclosures to share aspects of their identity and their perception of the extent to which these influenced the incidents they experienced.  

The report suggested that those who disclosed a disability and their race felt that this contributed to their harassment. In contrast, those who identified as LGBTQIA+ or as religious did not feel as though these made a difference in the incident they reported.  

Providing data about the types of students who utilise the Report + Support platform, the report claimed that disclosures recorded mainly came from home students and undergraduates, with the former category being linked to 83% of the disclosures received and the latter being linked to 66% of these. 

The report referred to Report + Support’s Action Plan for the next annum, 2025/2026.  

The platform stated that it aims to enhance disclosure training for staff, analyse data to work with under-represented groups, and commit to ensuring its training materials are relevant.  

A spokesperson for the University added: “We remain fully committed to working with the Students’ Union, our students, staff, and visitors to continue to tackle misconduct, raise awareness of the support available, and build confidence in the reporting of incidents.”