Publication Source

A court case this week could change the way universities are expected to look after their students - including their mental health.

The High Court is considering whether universities owe what is called a duty of care to their students.

Lawyers acting for the parents of Natasha Abrahart, who took her own life, will make the case in court.

The University of Bristol, where she studied, says that no such duty exists.

A judge will examine whether "reasonable steps" must be taken to avoid students coming to harm, and whether universities have a duty not to cause such harm.

The three-day hearing in Bristol calls into question what, exactly, falls under a university's remit.

It seeks to provide clarity on where universities' limitations lie, and how responsible they ought to be for their students - the majority of whom are young adults living away from their family homes for the first time.

It comes at the end of a sixth year of campaigning for Maggie and Bob Abrahart.

Their daughter, Natasha, had social anxiety, and had been due to give a presentation in a large lecture theatre on the day she died in 2018.

Last year, a judge ruled that the University of Bristol had failed to make reasonable adjustments for Natasha - a decision against which the university is now appealing.

EdCentral Logo