DEPRESSED university students must be made aware of the help available to them, say the parents of a Worcester student who hanged himself.

Twenty-year-old Joe Martin killed himself a year after starting a history degree at Warwick University.

An inquest heard that Joe told his family he felt lecturers were giving him a hard time and low marks.

"He had chosen his course very carefully, but said he thought teachers were being very hard on him as they marked his work," said Joe's dad Chris, a retired teacher.

"We later learnt this was a deliberate policy to push students to their full potential."

Joe's parents, of Bransford Road, St John's, want to meet staff at the university to discuss pastoral care.

"We're hoping to go back to talk to them," said Joe's mum Angela, also a teacher. "Mental illness is very common. Hundreds of students are being treated for it.

"We think the university should make them more aware about it, in the same way they produce meningitis symptom leaflets.

"If we can save one family from going through this it will be worth it."

Joe was found hanged at his sister's London home on Sunday, August 26, where he had been staying during the Notting Hill Carnival.

Southwark Coroner's Court heard that Joe had called The Samaritans the night before his death.

He had told his family that he could never obtain anything above a certain mark in his studies.

"My husband wanted to intervene but Joe didn't want him to get involved," said Mrs Martin.

"When we saw his friend she said she felt they were marking him harshly because he was very bright. He used to spend hours and hours on his work. He was a perfectionist."

Joe was a former student of Bishop Perowne CE High school and Worcester Sixth Form College.

He scored highly in exams, enjoyed rugby and cricket and played in his own rock band, The Plimsoll Hunters.

He had recently split from his girlfriend, which had led him to consult a doctor.

The inquest heard he had been prescribed mild anti-depressants.

Mrs Martin thought it was a combination of factors that led to his dep-ression and subsequently his death.

Deputy coroner Dr Adela Williams recorded a verdict of suicide.