From principle to practice: Applying UJS guidance in small and specialist institutions

As IHE’s only distinctively Jewish member institution, Leo Baeck - a small and specialist provider training rabbis and Jewish educators - brings a unique perspective combining an understanding of the realities facing smaller providers with deep knowledge of Jewish institutional life.

The UJS guidance is comprehensive and warmly welcomed by the sector. However, for many IHE member institutions - often providers with fewer than 500 students, no independent students’ union, and small staff teams - it also raises a very practical question: what does meaningful engagement with this guidance look like in our context?

While the guidance is thorough and carefully put together, many of its recommendations assume structures that simply do not exist in smaller providers: elected sabbatical officers, dedicated EDI teams, large estates, chaplaincy departments and, crucially, sufficient numbers of Jewish students to form and sustain a Jewish Society. The challenge is not the guidance itself but ensuring that its principles can be applied across institutions. Regardless of size, there are several core commitments that all providers can adopt. 

Start with the student in front of you

It is important not to assume what Jewish students want or need. Instead, institutions should create the conditions for honest, respectful conversations that allow individual students to describe their own experiences and expectations.

This approach will be familiar to many smaller providers. Just as a neurodivergent student might be asked what adjustments would help them access their course, a Jewish student might reasonably be asked about their level of religious observance and any practical accommodations that would support them. The aim is not to make the student responsible for educating the institution. Rather, it is to approach conversations with curiosity, respect and a willingness to listen, rather than with assumptions.

Some Jewish students may want their institution to mark Holocaust Memorial Day or 7 October publicly and visibly. Others may find that uncomfortable or may simply prefer quiet acknowledgement rather than institutional ceremony. The guidance’s recommendations around programming and events are helpful for institutions with larger Jewish student populations and the capacity to deliver them. For smaller providers, signposting to local civic events or community organisations may be a more proportionate and respectful starting point.

The same principle applies to Jewish staff. Many providers will employ Jewish members of staff whose perspectives and experiences also deserve attention. While the guidance focuses primarily on students, Jewish staff may feel particularly exposed in the current climate. Ensuring that they are heard, supported and included in conversations is equally important.

Accommodating Jewish observance and religious practice

Even if an institution has only one Jewish student, it has a responsibility to consider Jewish festivals and Shabbat when planning its academic calendar. That means avoiding, wherever possible, scheduling the first day of term, key induction activities, exams or graduation on Jewish festival dates. Shavuot, for example, frequently falls during the exam period. This is not simply about preference or convenience - for observant Jewish students, Jewish law prohibits participation in certain activities on these days.

The same consideration applies to assessment deadlines and extension periods. Where a deadline or an extension falls during a Jewish festival or Shabbat, institutions should consider whether the student will be observing. An extension that includes a Saturday, for example, may not constitute a meaningful extension for an observant Jewish student as they will be unable to work on that day. In such cases, a longer or differently timed extension period may be needed to have the intended effect.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews publishes clear, accessible information about Jewish festivals and their significance, while UJS provides advice for institutions on observing Jewish festivals. Together, they are a good starting point for institutions with limited prior knowledge of Jewish practice.

Security awareness and access to expertise

Even a small institution with only a handful of Jewish students should be aware of the Community Security Trust (CST) and the practical advice it can offer. CST’s role is to support and protect the Jewish community, including students and staff in higher education settings, and they can provide guidance on security and event planning. Any institution, however small, can contact CST directly for guidance - access to this expertise does not depend on having a dedicated security team. 

Antisemitism training and broader Jewish awareness

The UJS guidance recommends antisemitism awareness training, which UJS offers free of charge. However, for many providers, the need extends beyond training alone. Staff often have limited prior knowledge of Jewish communities, practices or the diversity of Jewish identities and experiences. While antisemitism training is essential, it should be complemented by efforts to build broader cultural and religious literacy.

One practical approach is to draw on local expertise, for example by engaging with rabbis or leaders from students’ own communities to share insight, answer questions and support staff understanding. These relationship-based approaches can be particularly effective for smaller providers and offer a flexible way to build institutional knowledge.

What to do when there's no Jewish Society

The UJS guidance understandably places significant weight on the Jewish Society (JSoc) as a key route into Jewish student life. However, for many IHE Members, a JSoc is not going to be viable. In such cases, there are still practical and proportionate steps institutions can take to support Jewish students.

A named staff contact - someone with additional knowledge and a clear remit to support Jewish students and staff - is an important first step. This mirrors the approach many providers already take in other areas of equality, diversity and inclusion, such as disability support, racial equality or the prevention of sexual misconduct. As a matter of good practice, institutions should ensure that where there are students with particular needs or from minority groups, there is a designated point of contact with a degree of specialist knowledge and training.

Where a JSoc is not in place, UJS can still be a valuable source of support, and the Board of Deputies of British Jews can provide information and signposting. Leo Baeck College can act as an informal sounding board for IHE Members with questions about supporting Jewish students, helping direct institutions towards appropriate advice and resources. 

Proactive inclusion matters even when there is no visible problem

The absence of reported antisemitism is not the same as the absence of antisemitism. In the current climate, some Jewish students and staff may be reluctant to disclose or report their experiences. Others may be unwilling to disclose that they are Jewish at all.

The parallel with other areas of equality work is useful. An institution would not conclude that it had no need to address sexual violence because no incidents had been reported. Nor would it assume that work on racial equality was unnecessary because it was unaware of any students from racially minoritised groups. The same principle applies here. Inclusive practices, external relationships and clear routes to advice need to be in place before an issue arises, not only in response to one.

This is a society-wide challenge that does not stop at the campus boundary. Many higher education providers are not residential institutions, with students and staff moving daily between campus and the wider community. Supporting Jewish students and staff therefore requires an awareness of the broader context in which they live, study and work, not simply what happens inside institutional walls.

On definitions and being honest about difficulty

While definitions matter, what matters most is a genuine institutional commitment to recognising that antisemitism is real, that it is a lived experience for many Jews in this country, and that Jewish students and staff deserve to be supported in practising and expressing their identity freely.

Debates about definitions should not obscure this fundamental point, regardless of whether institutions adopt the IHRA definition, or any other definition or framework.

Jewish students span a wide political spectrum. They hold diverse, and sometimes conflicting, views about Israel and Zionism. They come from different denominational backgrounds and have very different relationships with Jewish law. Many do not define their Jewishness as a religion at all, but as an ethnicity or an ethno-religious identity. Assumptions of uniformity, whether in practice, politics or observance, fail to reflect this complexity.