Software To Stop Suicides? UK Professor Develops System To Predict Potential Stress In Students 

Andrew Markwick, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester, has developed a computer software called StudentCRT that can identify students with potential stress or mental health-related problems, India Today has reported. It allows lecturers and other university staff to view and amend data on the students that relates to their well-being.

Signs such as non-attendance, grades drop or work submission failure, viewed in isolation across different classes and departments are often overlooked. But when viewed holistically these facts give a complete report of a student. Such behaviour indicates that the student may be suffering from a personal or class problem.

StudentCRT gives the opportunity for the teachers and support staff to see this data in real-time and update it. Every student has a separate score that is affected by specific outcomes. The score is then used to identify ‘at risk’ students, thus giving a leaderboard to student support services.

The initial trial of the system was successfully completed in the School of Physics and Astronomy for two years. Geraldine Garrabet, the Student Support Officer, says that they are now able to identify problems as soon as they manifest and follow up them personally.

The success of the software helped it reach the finals of Pitch@Palace competition - a platform to augment and help the work of entrepreneurs. Markwick has also launched a start-up company, Third Floor Systems.