Universities Must Do More to Prevent Suicides

Universities Must Do More to Prevent Suicides, UK Ministers

Universities in England have been told to step up efforts to prevent student suicides, in a review commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE). A report, which has been in the works for nearly two years, says they should assess the safety of student halls and involve families more after a student has died.

Its recommendations, which are the first to ever be issued to university leaders by any UK government, include discouraging the laying of flowers where a student has died if it could draw attention to a “suicide location”.

The family of Natasha Abrahart, who took her own life in 2018 while at the University of Bristol, called the review “superficial”.

The national review of higher education student suicide deaths, external, first seen by BBC News, examined 169 cases of suicide and serious self-harm reported by 73 universities in 2023-24.

It found almost a quarter of incidents, where the location was known, took place in university-managed accommodation, and that families had mostly been excluded from serious incident review processes.

It said there was a particular risk of “suicide clusters”, which Public Health England describes as “a situation in which more suicides than expected occur in terms of time, place, or both”.

In a series of 19 recommendations, it asked universities to:

>>> Conduct safety checks of university halls and any area where a student has died

>>> Consider discouraging people from placing tributes in that area “to avoid drawing attention to the site as a suicide location”

>>> Better support students who are struggling academically

>>> Improve transparency and make families’ input a “key part” of investigation processes

Universities have also been asked to review access to their mental health services.

The DfE announced the review in 2023, commissioning academics from the University of Manchester, who are part of its National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health, to conduct it independently.

Asked why a legal duty of care had not been introduced, skills minister Jacqui Smith said there were “some legal challenges”.

“We do think that universities have a general duty of care to their students,” she said.

“We’ll be absolutely clear with universities that this is their responsibility. We’ve made resource available and we will continue to challenge them to deliver that.”