Policy Pitstop: Serious incident reviews following a student death – Are HEIs being steered in the right direction?

We are seeing an increased focus on how higher education institutions (HEIs) respond to the death of a student. For example, we have seen new guidance from Universities UK – as well as recent talk of increased regulation – on how HEIs carry out serious incident reviews following a death.

If we get our response to these issues right, we can enhance the way we support bereaved families, strengthen the way we learn lessons from student death cases, and help universities, following a student death, to deliver high-quality support to everyone involved.

If we get this wrong, however, we risk adding to the distress felt by bereaved families and risk leaving our colleagues feeling more exposed than ever before when it comes to how their work with students is scrutinised during an incident review.

This free-to-attend 1-hour online Policy Pitstop session is an opportunity to discuss informally with others in the sector. The session starts with a briefing from us, followed by a discussion about the direction in which we appear to be heading when it comes to the practicalities involved in HEIs managing their responses to a student death.

Who is this discussion for?

This discussion is for anyone working in higher education who is involved in shaping or implementing their organisation’s response to a student death. The session has particular relevance to practitioners involved in carrying out, or shaping institutional procedures on, serious incident reviews, supporting bereaved families, and/or coordinating support for students and staff members following a student death.

While this event is aimed at those in higher education institutions, colleagues in other student-facing organisations – such as students’ unions or accommodation providers – or in further education will also find aspects of the discussion relevant to their settings.

Who is leading this discussion?

The discussion will be led by Levi Pay, Director and Principal Consultant at Plinth House. Levi Pay is a former director of student services, having worked in several universities. Levi founded Plinth House in 2017 to support the sector with training and consultancy services that underpin the provision of high-quality pastoral and specialist support. More information regarding Levi’s experience is available in the About Us section of our website.

Will the session be recorded?

We want to make attendees feel comfortable at these events about sharing their experience and discussing any challenges in their own institutions. We have therefore decided not to share video recordings of any parts of this discussion that feature attendees or that name individual attendees or their institutions.

Where a conversation reveals useful insights from the sector, we will collate a briefing note after the event and publish this.  The conversation will be governed by Chatham House rules; therefore, the briefing note will not be attributing any named individuals or institutions.

We really encourage you to switch your webcam on if you can, as we find this makes for a better-quality discussion.