EXETER, United Kingdom (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Parents of a University of Exeter student who committed suicide at age 21 after failing his final year exams have urged for a new law requiring universities to reveal the number of students who have committed suicide at their institutions.
At the time of his death in June 2021, which will be the topic of this week’s inquest, Harry Armstrong Evans, a student from Cornwall, was enrolled in the third year of a degree program in astrophysics and physics at the Russell Group university.
Rupert and Alice Armstrong Evans, Harry’s parents, have criticised the university and urged for the government to enact “Harry’s law,” which would require universities to disclose their yearly student suicide rate, as well as the faculty in which those students were enrolled in.
They argue that the Department for Education (DfE) needs to have the authority to look into and impose additional measures on institutions where the suicide rate is higher than the national average. Additionally, the proposal would require both personal and academic tutors to complete mental health awareness training and to keep track of their attendance.
Harry was one of 11 Exeter University students who reportedly committed suicide in the past six years. Joel Rees, 20, who was also majoring in physics and astrophysics, took his own life in 2017, according to The Guardian. The university claimed that not every death had been formally ruled a suicide by the coroner.
According to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in May, there were 3 suicide deaths per 100,000 students in Wales and England for the academic year ending in 2020, which was the lowest rate in 4 years.
According to a DfE official, a new dataset has also been requested in order to enhance university efforts to prevent suicide.“The mental health and wellbeing of students, including suicide prevention, is of paramount importance to the government, which is why this year we asked the Office for Students to allocate £15m towards student mental health.”
