England’s Office for Students took another reputational hit after the High Court rejected its bid to fine the University of Sussex over freedom-of-speech concerns tied to the university’s trans and non-binary inclusion policy. Sussex won a record £585,000 challenge, with the ruling finding process and bias problems in the regulator’s approach. The High Court upheld key Sussex arguments, including that the regulator closed its mind to findings that would avoid a conclusion of regulatory failure. The court also rejected OfS’s approach to determining academic freedom. The case is tied to the Kathleen Stock protest and employment controversy, but the High Court’s decision focused on the regulator’s compliance process—not on events surrounding Stock’s departure. Sussex’s vice chancellor said the ruling raises serious questions about OfS and its governance of speech-related enforcement. The outcome matters to universities across England because it constrains how OfS can use updated free-speech powers and may shape what data, interviews, and decision-making processes regulators must document to defend fines under judicial review.