University ‘could have done better’

FIVE years ago a “devoted” Cardiff University student took her own life just hours after receiving the wrong exam result.

- LOIS MCCARTHY

Now, for the first time, the university has spoken publicly about the tragedy, telling ITV that it “could have done better”.

Mared Foulkes, 21, from Anglesey, was in her second year studying pharmaceuticals when the Covid-19 pandemic forced her to continue her courses online.

Months into lockdown she received an automated email from Cardiff University informing her she had failed her recent exams and would not continue onto the third year.

The result was later corrected to a pass, but by then it was too late. Mared died on July 8, seven hours after the original email.

Cardiff University’s vice chancellor Wendy Larner addressed the tragedy in an interview, saying: “My thoughts go out to the Foulkes family.”

“Every life matters. Mared’s life matters. She was a very valued member of the School of Pharmacy, of our university,’ she told ITV.