Mum says university 'failed' son who took his own life after grade error

The mother of a student who took his own life after wrongly being told he could not graduate says he was "failed" by Glasgow University after a report highlighted serious concerns.

An investigation by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) found that the university's processes posed a "systemic risk to academic standards".

Its review was carried out after the death of Ethan Brown, who should have been awarded a 2:1 degree but was incorrectly told he had not passed his course.

His mother, Tracy Scott, said the findings confirmed the family's suspicions about failures at the institution. Glasgow University apologised and said it fully accepted the report's recommendations.

Ethan was due to graduate from the University of Glasgow with an Honours degree in geography in December 2024.

Tracy Scott said her "kind and caring" son enjoyed studying and was proud to be a Glasgow University student.

"He was looking forward to graduating and wanted to be like his aunt who also has a degree from the university," she said.

But with three months to go, he was told he would not be eligible to graduate because he had not been awarded a grade for one course.

The 23-year-old took his own life on the day he should have received his degree.

An internal investigation was launched after Scott sought answers from the university.

It concluded he had been awarded the wrong grade for a course due to an error by the university and should have graduated with a 2:1 Honours degree.

The error was not spotted by any University of Glasgow staff, or by two internal exam boards and one external exam board.

Scott said the report from the QAA was a "very emotional read" which confirmed the family's suspicions about the "failures" at the university.

"We're in shock but happy to know what we thought is true," she said.

Scott said Ethan asked for help but had not been offered any support.

"They failed my son," she said.

Scott said the university must make changes and wants a fatal accident inquiry to be carried out into Ethan's death to "safeguard present and future students".

"We can't help Ethan now but we can protect other students," Scott said.

"Ethan was a huge loss to our family and we don't want other families to go through what we went through."

At the time of Ethan's death, the university said it was confident that the error with his marks was an isolated one and "no other students have been affected".

But the QAA report reveals that two other students in the geography school were given the wrong outcomes, and that five other potential cases were being investigated.

Final degree classifications at Glasgow University are currently calculated by aggregating individual course marks.

The School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, where Ethan had been studying, was the only one of the 23 different schools which the university itself had identified as "high risk".

The QAA carried out its investigation after concerns were raised by the Scottish Funding Council.

The review did not cover the individual circumstances of Ethan's death but focused on broader issues.

It found that Glasgow University's assessment regulations posed a "systemic risk to academic standards".

The QAA report described the university's code of assessment as "convoluted" and said there was a risk of inconsistent interpretation and decision-making at exam boards throughout the institution.

It said the extent to which past, present and future awards at the university were affected by this systemic risk was not known.

It also highlighted a lack of communication about the options for students who are at risk of not graduating.

The report makes 21 recommendations, including mandatory training for staff and a review of how exam boards log final degree awards across the university.

It also recommends the university's next regular external peer review takes place one year sooner than planned.

QAA chief executive Vicki Stott said the findings were "of serious concern".

She said her organisation would work to ensure that the university implemented the recommendations "in a timely manner" to protect academic standards.

The Scottish Funding Council, which asked the QAA to carry out the independent review, said a national review of assessment procedures at all universities would now be carried out.

Jacqui Brasted, from the SFC, said the report's findings were "deeply concerning" and needed to be implemented "as a matter of urgency".

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow offered a "sincere apology" to Ethan's family and said it fully accepted the QAA recommendations and the risks identified in its report.

"We are profoundly sorry that Ethan tragically took his own life and understand the deep distress it has caused his family," it said.

"Since February 2025, we have worked to address the issues highlighted in the internal investigation and will implement the recommendations of the QAA review through a comprehensive plan that builds on current change projects."