Glasgow University settles case after student wrongly told he had failed
Ethan Brown, 23, a University of Glasgow geography student, took his own life on 13 December 2024, the day he was supposed to graduate, after being told in September that he had failed a course and would not be eligible to graduate with an honours degree. The family has now settled a civil court action against the university, though they continue to campaign for a full investigation into the error and the systemic failures that allowed it to pass through multiple review levels.
An internal investigation later revealed that Ethan had been incorrectly graded and should have graduated with a 2:1 honours degree. The mistake passed through university staff, two internal examination boards, and an external examination board without detection. The family's statement noted that despite Ethan disclosing mental health concerns to the university, he was not provided with appropriate support. The university has acknowledged its failures and is implementing recommendations from a Scottish Funding Council review; the settlement amount has not been disclosed.
- Student told he had failed; took his own life on graduation day.
- Grading error went undetected through multiple university review levels.
- Family settled civil action but continues campaigning for full investigation.
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Ethan Brown was a final-year geography student at the University of Glasgow who died by suicide on 13 December 2024, the day his graduation ceremony was scheduled. In September, he had been informed that he had failed a course and would not be eligible to graduate with an honours degree.
An internal investigation later revealed that Ethan had been incorrectly graded and should have graduated with a 2:1 honours degree. The mistake went undetected as it passed through examination boards and external review processes at the university.
Although Ethan had disclosed mental health concerns to the university, he did not receive appropriate support during this difficult period. The university has now settled a civil case with his family, who continue to campaign for a full investigation into the systemic failures that allowed the error to occur.
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The case for
The university made preventable, critical errors: a grading mistake at final degree stage passed through multiple internal and external review layers undetected, indicating systemic failure rather than isolated error; and the institution failed to provide adequate mental health support despite knowing the student had disclosed vulnerabilities. These institutional failures directly contributed to the tragedy and demand substantial systemic reform.
The case against
Whilst institutional errors require serious reform and stronger mental health support, the causation of suicide is complex and multifactorial rather than reducible to a single decision or failure. An examination error that passed multiple reviews, including external scrutiny, does not necessarily indicate gross negligence. Mental health crises emerge from numerous psychological and situational factors; universities cannot guarantee prevention of such outcomes, and assigning full responsibility for suicide to institutional procedural failures, however serious, conflates different forms of culpability.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “University settles case with family of student who took his own life after being wrongly told he had failed”.