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The tragic case of Ethan Brown, a student at the University of Glasgow who took his own life after being incorrectly informed he would not graduate, has brought to light significant problems within the university’s academic processes. Ethan was mistakenly awarded the wrong grade for a course, which led him to believe he had failed and would be unable to receive his degree. In reality, he should have been awarded a 2:1 Honours degree in geography. Following his death, his mother, Tracy Scott, expressed that the university had “failed” her son, a sentiment reinforced by an investigation into the matter.
This investigation was conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) at the request of the Scottish Funding Council. The QAA’s review did not examine the circumstances of Ethan’s death directly but focused on the university’s academic and assessment procedures. The report identified that the University of Glasgow’s regulations on assessment posed a “systemic risk to academic standards” and described the code of assessment as “convoluted,” raising concerns about inconsistent decision-making at exam boards across the institution. The review also revealed that other students in the geography school were affected by similar grading errors and that additional cases were being investigated.
Tracy Scott shared the emotional impact the findings had on her family and emphasized the lack of support her son received during this difficult time. She said, “They failed my son,” and called for reforms to prevent similar incidents from happening to other students. The university acknowledged these failures and issued a sincere apology to Ethan’s family, stating it had fully accepted the recommendations set out in the QAA report. Since February 2025, Glasgow University has been working to implement changes and has committed to a comprehensive plan to address the identified issues.
The QAA’s report included 21 recommendations, such as mandatory staff training and a review of how exam boards record final degree results. It also urged that the university advance its next external peer review by one year to ensure swift progress. Both the QAA and the Scottish Funding Council have expressed serious concerns over the findings, with the latter announcing plans for a national review of assessment processes across all universities in Scotland. For Tracy Scott and her family, the hope is that these changes will protect future students, as she said, “Ethan was a huge loss to our family and we don’t want other families to go through what we went through.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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