Parliament to debate how better to protect university students

A debate in the House of Commons on Monday could begin the process of closing a legal loophole which campaigners fear puts university students at risk.

The debate comes after more than 128,000 people signed a petition started by a group of bereaved parents calling on ministers to pass legislation to better protect students.

The group includes the parents of Natasha Abrahart (pictured above), originally from Nottingham, who took her own life in her student flat in Bristol in 2018 while a second-year undergraduate at the University of Bristol.

It comes as the High Court has granted the University of Bristol permission to appeal against the judgment that it caused 20-year-old Natasha’s death by breaching the Equality Act, following an appeal by the university.

An inquest ruled that Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust “significantly underestimated” her condition and there was a “gross failure” to provide care.

Natasha’s father, Robert Abrahart, 66, a retired university lecturer, said: “MPs and peers now have a huge opportunity to improve the safety of university students in this country.

“We hope this debate will be a springboard for introducing a bill into parliament that ensures universities owe similar legal duties to their students as they owe to their employees.

“The current arrangement, where the courts are very unlikely to find a university liable for allowing a student to suffer foreseeable harm, unless the student is disabled, is illogical and unsustainable.”

Natasha’s mother, Margaret, 61, a retired psychological wellbeing practitioner, added: “We have to make sure that we learn from Natasha’s death, and the deaths of all the other students who took their own lives while at university. We must stop this from happening again.

“We are doing all we can through the courts to try to get adequate legal protections for students but now we need our politicians to step up.

“This isn’t about expecting universities to treat students like children or asking staff to be stand-in parents.

“It’s about introducing a common-sense legal duty which says that universities should take reasonable steps to avoid and not to cause harm to their students. I don’t see why that should be controversial.”

The physics department at the University of Bristol where Natasha Abrahart was a student – photo: Martin Booth

A spokesperson for the University of Bristol said: “Our whole university community has been deeply affected by Natasha’s tragic death and we would once again like to extend our sympathies to her friends and family.

“Every single member of staff cares deeply about the welfare of our students and, as with all universities, we provide a wide range of pastoral support services which they can easily access.

“Part of this support involves assisting students to access specialist care under the NHS or other providers should they need it, as happened in Natasha’s case.

“We believe staff in the School of Physics worked incredibly hard and diligently to support Natasha during her time with us, and it was due to their efforts that she was receiving specialist mental health support from the NHS.

“Our staff’s efforts also included offering alternative options for her assessments to alleviate the anxiety she faced about presenting her laboratory findings to her peers.”

Main photo: Abrahart family

Read next:

• Bristol University found to have breached legal duties over Natasha Abrahart suicide
• Bristol beaten by Durham in University Challenge final
• Building work to start soon on Bristol Uni’s new £500m campus

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