What is Report + Support?
Report + Support is the School’s online reporting system for bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual violence and hate crime. You can report issues anonymously, or by providing contact details enabling an adviser to contact you to discuss. The introduction to the form provides further information on where to go if you prefer to report in person.
Report + Support is also home to information about internal and external support, policies and procedures and campaigns.
Who can make a report?
The Report + Support tool is open to anyone. LSE students and staff, alumni, and members of the public can all use this tool to report to LSE.
If you are looking for information on making a complaint, please see the FAQ on ‘How do I make a complaint?’
Who are the administrators on the system?
The HR Partners – for staff reports
Deputy Head of Student Services (Advice & Policy) & Head of Student Advice and Engagement Management - for all other reports
What is the difference between ‘Tell us anonymously’ and ‘Tell us with contact details’?
When you ‘Tell us anonymously’ you will not be asked for contact details. Therefore, LSE does not know who has made the anonymous report and cannot make contact to discuss support and report options. If someone wants more information on support options or is considering informal or formal options to address a concern, they would ‘Tell us with contact details’ which will enable them to speak with an adviser.
What happens after I report with contact details?
If you are a student reporting, you will be contacted by an adviser in Student Services who works in a student facing/supporting role. If you are a staff member reporting, you will be contacted by an adviser in HR who works in a staff facing/supporting role. The administrators (see above) assign each case to an appropriate adviser.
The adviser receives an email notification that a case has been assigned to them – no identifiable information is provided within this email alert. The adviser then logs into Report + Support to access information provided using their personal login details. The adviser then contacts the person who has made the report, and they arrange a meeting to discuss the report.
What are the options for informal or formal action?
No formal proceedings will be automatically initiated from a Report + Support entry, the individual will be spoken to about various options available to them.
For students this may include informal actions such as, class changes, no-contact arrangements, warnings, or formal routes such as investigation under the Student Disciplinary Procedure.
For staff, this may include informal actions such as work adjustments, mediation, or formal routes such as raising a grievance or disciplinary action under the relevant professional services and academic procedures.
When can I expect to receive a reply to my report?
If you have provided your name and contact details, then you will receive a response from an adviser initially within three working days. If you are in an emergency and need an urgent response or support, then please check the list of emergency support contacts under item FAQ “I need some urgent support – who can I contact?”.
I need some urgent support – who can I contact?
If you are in immediate danger, or are in an emergency and need an urgent response and support, please contact one of the support services below:
- If it is an emergency, please call 999 for police or ambulance services.
- You can contact the police for non-emergency advice via the website (Home | Metropolitan Police) or by calling 101.
- LSE Security is also available 24/7 by calling 020 7955 6555.
Out of hours support for students and staff can be found here:
- Students: 24/7 support
- Staff: Employee Assistance Programme
What happens when someone makes an anonymous report?
The report will be viewed by one of the administrators (see above). The administrators will first review the report to identify any risks that relate to duty of care. If no immediate risk is identified, no further, direct action will usually be taken. However, depending on the nature of the report and details provided, HR or Student Services may be able to make some type of targeted intervention. For example, if the incident took place on campus where CCTV may be available, they may look to review this.
What action can you take from anonymous reports?
Information provided within anonymous reports will be used as statistical data to understand what is happening and to inform proactive prevention work. The relevant roles or teams will work with areas identified to address any concerning trends. For example, if there was a trend on incident type, they may look at training interventions.
What information (and how much) will I be asked to share?
You will be asked to tick an option which best describes the behaviour you have experienced or witnessed. You can answer ‘I’m not sure’.
You will be asked whether the incident happened to you, or someone else. You will be asked to indicate who you are/ who has experienced this incident e.g., student, staff member, alumni, or a member of the public. You will be asked where the incident took place and who you are reporting e.g. student, staff. For all these there will be a ‘Prefer not to say’/’I don’t know’ option.
We will ask some other questions which help us identify and address reporting patterns, but they are optional. You will also be asked optional demographic data questions.
There will be an optional text box where you can type in a description of what has happened, this can be as brief or detailed as you like.
If you are reporting with contact details, you will be asked to fill in contact details at the end.
I have experienced sexual assault or rape- who can I contact?
LSE provides independent sexual violence support to anyone impacted by any form of sexual violence, at any time in their lives. To read more and refer into support please see here: Independent Sexual Violence Support Service
If you have experience recent sexual assault or rape, please read our guidance note on this: Guidance for recent sexual assault and rape - Report + Support - LSE
What if I don't know the name of the person I want to report?
You can still make a report if you don't know the name of the person(s). Provide as much information as you can – this could include a description of how you know the person(s), for example, as a member of your class group, or someone you regularly see in the same place on campus / in halls.
Will the information I share be kept confidential?
The information provided in this form will be kept confidential and stored securely.
Your identity and your other personal data will be disclosed within LSE on a need-to-know basis only and will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent unless there are legitimate reasons requiring us to do so – for example, where the information you have provided highlights a potential risk to an individual or relates to a possible criminal offence. In these circumstances, we may disclose the information to the police and/or other members of staff within LSE.
Please note reports received on Report + Support that detail something that relates to a possible criminal offence, for example a sexual assault, will not be automatically disclosed to the police and/or other members of staff within LSE. Decisions on whether information will be shared will be determined based on statutory duties including safeguarding, and potential risks to individual/s.
In situations where there are legitimate reasons requiring us to disclose this information, the School will do it’s best to keep you, as the reporting person, informed of these actions.
Will the person(s) I am reporting be told?
Your report will not be disclosed to others without your consent unless there are legitimate reasons requiring us to do so (see FAQ on ‘Will the information I share be kept confidential?’) The adviser will discuss this with you in more detail.
Upon meeting with the adviser, if you determine you would like there to be a ‘no-contact’ agreement sought with the reported person, then the reported person would be informed of the report whilst the adviser seeks to implement this.
Does reporting to LSE mean that I shouldn't report to the police?
Any experience of sexual violence, harassment or hate crime can be reported to the police.
Incidents can be reported to the police and LSE.
Reporting to the police and to LSE are entirely separate processes with different procedures and possible responses and outcomes.
If you are considering whether you want to report an incident of sexual violence, including sexual assault, rape or childhood sexual abuse to the police, you can contact LSE’s Independent Sexual Violence Support Service first, and they will provide you information on police reporting, plus help you navigate the process should you choose to report: Independent Sexual Violence Support Service
What if I'm not sure if the matter is serious enough to report?
This is a common and natural response to experiences of bullying, harassment, discrimination, hate crime and sexual violence. If someone else’s behaviour has left you feeling uncomfortable, confused, threatened, scared or violated, then it is likely that what they did wasn’t okay. If you feel in any way that your experience was a form of discrimination, sexual violence, hate crime, bullying or harassment we would invite you to make a report so that we can respond appropriately.
Is there a time limit on reporting?
There is no time limit for you to report any experience of sexual violence, discrimination, hate crime, bullying or harassment that you experienced or witnessed. LSE takes all reports extremely seriously and will investigate to the best of our ability, no matter when an incident took place.
What do you do with the data gathered from advisor reports?
The data collected from Report + Support is used to produce anonymised termly and annual reports. These reports may include the number of cases, most reported types of incidents and location. Data gathered from anonymous reports will also be used as part of these insight reports. These can be found on the Report + Support page under Insight Reports.
How secure is the data and information sent through the system?
Data held on Report + Support is GDPR compliant and further information about how data is collected and stored is outlined in the Privacy Notice. The system has been security tested by both the developer, Culture Shift, and by LSE.
How long is data sorted on the system?
We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil purposes we collected it for. We will keep records of reports one year from case closure on the Report + Support system as outlined in the Privacy Notice. All personal data will be kept according to the Records Retention Schedule.
How do I make a complaint?
If you are a student and you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of your experience at LSE, you should follow the Student Complaints Procedure. This lays out the formal and informal steps that you can take. It covers both academic and administrative matters.
If you are a staff member, or visitor, who would like to lodge a complaint. Please see refer to the School’s grievance procedure or contact your HR partner directly.
To read more about LSE’s policies and procedures, please visit: LSE Policies, Procedures and Guidance