The claim that "there is no established duty of care on universities to protect the health, safety and welfare of their students" is partly true and partly false depending on context and interpretation. In the specific context the speaker is addressing — preventing student suicide and requiring universities to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable self-harm — the claim is broadly accurate. In the 2022 Abrahart v University of Bristol judgment, the judge stated there is "no statute or precedent which establishes the existence of such a duty of care owed by a university to a student" to take reasonable steps to avoid causing injury, including psychiatric injury, and harm. The October 2023 Feder and McCamish v Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama ruling did establish a common law duty of care in the specific context of investigating sexual assault allegations, but legal analysis (e.g., Browne Jacobson) confirms "there is no general common law duty of care owed to all students by higher education providers in all circumstances." However, the sweeping phrasing of the claim — that there is "no established duty of care" to protect "health, safety and welfare" — is too broad. The UK Government's own written answers (2023) and a House of Commons Library report (2023) assert that "there is already a general duty of care for higher education providers to deliver educational and pastoral services to the standard of an ordinarily competent institution and, in carrying out these services, HE providers are expected to act reasonably to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their students." Universities are also subject to statutory duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Equality Act 2010. That said, the legal basis for the Government's asserted "general common law duty" has been questioned; HEPI (2023) notes the Government has "not provided any legal authority for its assertion that a duty of care exists under Common Law," and the formulation appears to originate from a 2015 AMOSSHE blog post with no binding legal status. A January 2026 Hansard debate also acknowledged that "no statutory duty requires universities to take reasonable care to protect adult students from foreseeable harm," with obligations instead arising "in a fragmented way." Thus the core of what the speaker is arguing — that there is no comprehensive, established statutory duty requiring universities to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm such as suicide — is accurate. But the blanket phrasing that there is "no established duty of care" to protect health, safety and welfare is contradicted by the Government's position that a general common law duty exists and by the existence of specific statutory duties. Sources: UK Parliament written question 174398 (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-03-27/174398); House of Commons Library, "Higher education providers' duty of care to students" (April 2023) (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63c94f898fd79e0d32af714e/t/646b89c142443340a348af1b/1684769217951/Higher+education+providers%E2%80%99+duty+of+care+to+students+%28House+of+Commons+Library%2C+25+April+2023%29.pdf); HEPI, "Does the government have any legal basis for asserting a duty of care to students in higher education under Common Law?" (https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/10/31/does-the-government-have-any-legal-basis-for-asserting-a-duty-of-care-to-students-in-higher-education-under-common-law/); Browne Jacobson, "Student suicide & universities' duty of care" (https://www.brownejacobson.com/insights/student-suicide-and-universities-duty-of-care); BBC News, "Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama: Students win assault case" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67015687); Farrer & Co, "University held liable for a failure to properly investigate allegations of sexual assault" (https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/case-update-university-held-liable-for-a-failure-to-properly-investigate-allegations-of-sexual-assault/); Hansard, "Universities: Statutory Duty of Care" (13 January 2026) (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-01-13/debates/1B813B00-7F46-42AC-BA6D-091C48BE15C2/UniversitiesStatutoryDutyOfCare)