Catriona MacAuley was close to finishing the first year of her psychology studies at Edinburgh University when a neighbour found her dead in the stairwell outside her flat last week. She was the fifth Edinburgh student to commit suicide in the past 18 months.

"We have no idea why these students decided to do what they did," said the president of the university students' association. "There are a lot of support services at Edinburgh University."

Yet figures from the National Union of Students suggest that 30 percent of undergraduates show debilitating signs of stress during exam time. The UK suicide rate in the 18 to 25 bracket has been put at 13 per 100,000.