Glasgow University has been accused of “failing” a student who killed himself on graduation day after being wrongly told he had not done well enough to earn his degree.
Ethan Scott Brown, a 23-year geography student at Glasgow, was told repeatedly he had failed to get an essential grade for one course and so could not be awarded his degree in September 2024.
His family said that he took his own life at home in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire on the day he would have graduated, 13 December. He was found dead in his bedroom by his mother, Tracy Scott.
Tracy Scott (left) and Colin Scott (right) with their solicitor, Aamer Anwar, at a press conference in Glasgow on Tuesday. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
An internal inquiry by the university set up after pressure from Brown’s family found “systemic” errors in the way his degree had been graded, due largely to confusion about its assessment rules.
A recently retired senior professor who carried out the investigation found he had enough marks for a 2:1 honours degree; the errors had not been spotted by either of its internal review boards or an external review panel.
The investigation also found Brown had alerted staff that he was suffering from poor mental health, and they had failed to offer him counselling and support – omissions Glasgow University acknowledged on Tuesday.
“Ethan left this world believing he had failed, and [that] the University of Glasgow were correct,” Tracy Scott said, as the family and their lawyer, Aamer Anwar, released the university’s inquiry findings.
“The truth is, Ethan had successfully attained a 2:1 honours degree, despite the university repeatedly informing him he had been unsuccessful.
“They failed him, not only academically, but also to support him. My son was failed from having a duty of care from the educational system, resulting in my family having been robbed from having Ethan in our lives.”
Sitting with Ethan’s stepfather, Colin Scott, and his uncle Alan Neil by her side, she added: “Ethan was a kind, caring young man who was very much loved. So it breaks my heart to now be aware of the mental anguish this university must have caused my son.”
The university admitted the failings. “We are profoundly sorry that this terrible event occurred and understand the deep distress it has caused Ethan’s family,” it said in a statement.
“The report found that a tragic error had been made in calculating Ethan’s degree outcome. It indicated that this error should have been picked up during the exam board process. A further shortcoming involved communications with Ethan, including the fact that he was not referred to student support services when he disclosed wellbeing concerns.”
It rejected suggestions those problems had affected other students, saying it was “confident that the error in relation to Ethan’s marks was an isolated one and that no other students have been affected”.
“Even so, we have undertaken a thorough review of our academic and wellbeing policies and practices. We have also revised our training programmes for members of staff involved in exam boards.”
Anwar, the family’s solicitor and a former Glasgow University rector elected by its students, said the internal review had also revealed failures by staff in its geographical and earth sciences department to respond to Brown’s requests for an update over the summer.
It found staff had also failed to follow up his warnings of “deteriorating health and distress” when he sought two coursework deadline extensions in his final year.
“They ask whether this systemic failure would ever have been identified had Ethan not died and his family had not fought for answers,” Anwar said. “To be clear, had the family not contacted the university on 13 January and demanding answers, they would have been none the wiser.”
Anwar released a letter from the university offering the family a further meeting with its new principal, Prof Andy Schofield, on Tuesday but only if Anwar was not involved. The university would not comment on why it had sought to block him, but said Schofield was willing to meet the family again “to express his sympathies and discuss the actions taken by the university”.
