A 21-year-old university student jumped off a bridge to her death after she was incorrectly told that she had failed her exams, the Daily Mail reports.
On July 8, Mared Foulkes, a Cardiff University student from Anglesey, Wales, fell from the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait.
Foulkes was a second-year student studying pharmaceuticals and had worked part-time in a pharmacy for some years, per BBC News.
An inquest heard that Foulkes had received an automated email from the university hours before she died, incorrectly informing her that she had failed her re-sit exam and would not be progressing to the third year.
The email wrongly told the student that she had failed with a score of 39 percent although, in reality, she had passed the exam with a 62 percent score.
The 39 percent score is what that Foulkes had gotten on a previous exam that she had taken on March 26 and the 62 percent score is what she received on her re-sit exam on April 24.
Professor Mark Gumbleton, Head of Pharmacy at the university, told the inquest that the system had failed to take into account Foulkes' re-sit exam, per BBC News.
Gumbleton said the system was "standard practice", but added: "Lessons are always to be learned. We Gumbleton within the regulations, but we need to move towards a simpler system of ratifying grades."
He continued: "The challenge is to avoid a situation where we create confusion. I believe the university is looking at this and changes are going to take place."
Foulkes' mother, Iona, said it was "plain and simple" that her daughter's decision to end her life that day was a "direct result" of the email she received.
Iona explained: "She received an automatic email - there was nothing personal - no phone call, nothing. She believed she had failed and the email said she could not progress with her degree. She was devoted to her course and to her work in the pharmacy, she would have been horrified.
"She would have felt like all her dreams and aspirations had finished with that sentence - for a 21-year-old it's unbelievable."
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