Mared Foulkes: Cardiff University apologises after suicide

Mared Foulkes took her own life hours after being wrongly told she had failed an exam and would not be able to sit her third year

Cardiff University has apologised to the family of a student who took her own life hours after being told she had failed an exam she had passed.

Mared Foulkes, 21, from Menai Bridge, Anglesey, received a results email that did not take account of her resit mark.

The university said it will simplify its exams process after a coroner said it was "complex" and "confusing".

Iona and Glyngwyn Foulkes said they were sad it took their daughter's death to make changes.

They said they would have "wished for the courtesy and humanity of a personal apology".

Acting North West Wales Coroner, Katie Sutherland, wrote to Cardiff University urging them to clarify the system for sharing results after an inquest into Mared's death returned a conclusion of suicide.

Mared Foulkes was a pharmacy student at Cardiff University when she died

Mared had failed a practical assessment as part of the second year of her studies in March 2020, but she passed a resit a month later.

But the automated email she received on 8 July 2020 referred only to the original result and indicated that she would not be able to proceed to her third year of study.

That evening, Mared drove to a bridge near her home in north Wales, where her body was found.

Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University Prof Colin Riordan said the correct process had been followed at the time, which meant resit marks were not confirmed until later.

'Room for confusion'

However, he acknowledged there was "room for confusion" which had since been "corrected" and all marks would now be confirmed at the same time.

"Exam results will be communicated in a way which leaves no room for confusion in the future", he said.

The university said it had set up a group to work on the tone and language used when sharing results, as well as making sure students were directed to support about their results, if they needed it.

But Prof Riordan said it would be difficult to give prior notice to students if they were going to get a fail, despite the coroner raising it as a matter of concern.

"You have to be fair and you have to be consistent", Prof Riordan said, "so that means we have to inform all students in the same way at the same time of their results and we will need to continue to do that".

Prof Colin Riordan said he was "deeply sorry for this sequence of events"

In response to Cardiff University's report to the coroner, Iona and Glyngwyn Foulkes said they believed that "all students will benefit" from changing the way exam results are shared and it "may even save some young lives."

But they also questioned why key information about Mared's wellbeing had not been shared with her personal tutor.

They added that Cardiff University should consider an opt-in system, similar to Bristol University, where students can consent to a parent or "trusted person" being contacted if there are serious concerns about wellbeing.

"Cardiff University can be better because of Mared," they said.

Expressing "deep condolences" to Mared's parents, Professor Riordan apologised on behalf of the university.

"I apologise now, absolutely", he said, speaking to BBC Wales.

"I'm deeply sorry for this sequence of events. It's a devastating set of circumstances and I absolutely understand the family's need for answers to their questions.

"I'm very happy of course to speak to Mared's parents, if that's what they would like."

'A PR exercise'

In a statement her parents said: "We are dismayed that Cardiff University has chosen to publicly share the actions it has taken since our daughter's death, with the BBC, without any reference to us.

"The university has chosen to go to the media with its account of the actions it has taken without waiting for our comments and reflections following our receipt of its submission to the coroner on 31 January 2022.

"We would have wished for the courtesy and humanity of a personal apology and not one shared with viewers in what appears to be a PR exercise."

The Vice Chancellor said the university had increased mental health support for students during the pandemic, and it took wellbeing and student support "extremely seriously".

"I acknowledge we have improvements to make, we have learned from the coroner's report and we will make sure those improvements are made", he said.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article, information on the support available can be found at the BBC Action Line.