More than 30 fake UK universities closed by watchdog | Education...

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/02/more-than-3...

More than 30 fake UK universities closed by

watchdog
Bogus degree-awarding institutions are on the increase, with one being no more than a
shopfront and others having no physical presence at all
David Batty
Tuesday 2 August 2016 20.34BST

More than 30 fake UK universities have been shut down in the past year as concern
grows about students being mis-sold fraudulent degrees.
University watchdog the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd), which monitors
fake degrees, identied a total of 62 bogus institutions in the past year. So far, 32 have
been closed by law enforcement and trading standards agencies, and 30 investigations
are still in progress.
Of the 32 fake institutions closed, 25 were based overseas, according to Jayne Rowley,
director of Hedd. The agency is advising another four institutions, which are legitimate
businesses, to make clear to prospective students that they cannot award UK degrees.
All the ones that were shut down were completely bogus, said Rowley. The
completely fake sites that talk of campuses of students when theres literally nothing
there at all. Rowley cited one case that Hedd is working on at the moment that involves
a university whose address, listed on its website, is actually an empty shop front in
Hyde in Cheshire.
Since 2011, 220 bogus UK universities have been identied and 80% of them are no
longer active, Rowley said. But she added that even the defunct fake universities
remained a problem because employers were failing to check whether prospective
candidates qualications were valid.
The overall gure of the number of recruiters who check degree qualications with the
awarding body is only around 20%, said Rowley. So an awful lot of fraud goes
undetected. Only two-thirds of employers actually ask to see a degree certicate, a third
will rely on CVs.
Rowley warned that the situation could get worse because of the governments plans to
open up the sector and give instant degree-awarding powers to new private providers
with no track record in education.
I think theres a very big risk this will become a more serious problem, she said. I
think the proposals to expand provision in the HE bill can lead to people abusing the
new degree-awarding powers. If the number [of universities] swells by several hundred
its going to be easier for ... bogus operators to get in under the radar.

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More than 30 fake UK universities closed by watchdog | Education...

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/02/more-than-3...

The rise of online degree programmes, such as massive open online courses, could also
worsen the problem, Rowley added.
With the onset of the internet and distance learning, degree fraud is a borderless crime
and we must collaborate with agencies around the world to deal with it. The fact that so
much can be delivered online means its very, very easy, you dont even have to have a
building any more to run a supposed [higher education] institution.
Over the past year, Hedd has worked with the Metropolitan police, the National Crime
Agency and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, Trading Standards, depending on
whether a fake institution was in breach of trademarks and copyright, by copying the
website or logo of a real university, or breaching the Education Reform Act by
misleadingly calling itself a university.

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