Estimating suicide among higher education students, England and Wales: August 2016 to July 2023

Today we have published estimates of suicides among higher education students (see notes for editors for the definitions). The figures are broken down by sex, age, study type, and ethnicity. These are official statistics in development based on linking mortality records with student records between the academic year ending 2017 and the academic year ending 2023.

We have been developing our work in this area, improving our ability to link mortality records and student records. This has allowed us to better identify which cases of suicides were higher education students, so these figures should not be compared with previous estimates. Find out more about these improvements in the blog.

David Mais, head of mortality statistics at the ONS, said:

“Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy, leaving a lasting grief with all those involved and so it is heartbreaking to see our figures showing 160 higher education students taking this step each year.

"Men, part-time students and undergraduates are found through this study to be at the greatest risk, and we hope that insights like this will help target support as much as possible. 

Main points 

In England and Wales, between August 2016 and July 2023:

• We identified 1,108 suicides in higher education students that occurred between August 2016 and July 2023, an average of around 160 per year. This is 6.9 deaths per 100,000 students, lower than the 10.2 deaths per 100,000 people in the general population of similar ages.
• The suicide rate for higher education students rose between the academic year ending 2017 and academic year ending 2019 before falling in the academic year ending 2020 and plateauing from there.
• The suicide rate for men in higher education students was higher (10.4  per 100,000 students) compared with women (4.3  per 100,000 students). It was also higher in the "White" ethnic group (7.8 per 100,000 students) compared with the "Black" and "Asian" ethnic groups (4.6 and 5 per 100,000 students respectively). These patterns are also seen in the general population.
• Undergraduates had a higher suicide rate (6.8 per 100,000 students) than postgraduates (5.3 per 100,000 students).
• Those studying part-time had a higher rate (8.8 per 100,000 students) than those studying full-time (6.4 per 100,000 students).
• The suicide rate varied by accommodation type, with those living in their own home having the highest rate (7.1 per 100,000 students) and those living with parents/guardians having the lowest rates (3.8 per 100,000 students). 

Go to the release

Notes for editors

Figures for suicides occurring at each university or higher education institution are not published as part of the release. The ONS does hold this data, but the numbers by individual institution are small enough to be disclosive. We must protect confidentiality in our mortality statistics.

A student is someone registered at a higher education (HE) provider in the UK and follows a course that leads to the award of a qualification or HE provider credit. As such, it does not include those in further education, such as colleges and sixth form.

If you are a journalist covering a suicide-related issue, please consider following Samaritans' media guidelines on the reporting of suicide and their specific guidance for reporting on youth suicides because of the potentially damaging consequences of irresponsible reporting. In particular, the guidelines advise on terminology and include links to sources of support for anyone affected by the themes in the article. 

If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or contact other sources of support, such as those listed on the NHS Help for suicidal thoughts webpages. Support is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.

Statistics for the Public Good

For further information on this or other ONS releases, or to arrange broadcast and print interviews, please contact Media Relations on 020 3973 4761, email: Media.Relations@ons.gov.uk

Please note the ONS publishes market sensitive releases at 07:00. Other statistics are released at 09:30 unless specified. Full details on our Release Calendar

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