Researcher cautions against initiatives to reduce student suicide that lack evidence

Universities are implementing policies to reduce suicide among students and improve mental health with little evidence that they will make any difference, a researcher has warned.

A total of 5821 suicides were reported in the UK in 2017, 10.1 deaths per 100 000 population, a proportion among the lowest since records began in 1981.1 About one in 60 deaths by suicide in 2017 (95) were carried out by a student in higher education.12

Data also show that the proportion of university students declaring a mental health condition has more than tripled in recent years, from 0.8% in 2010-11 to 2.5% …