Letter from UK Department for Education and Skills

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Guest, Oct 1, 2001.

Loading...
  1. Guest

    Guest Guest

    I wrote off to the UK's Department for Education and Skills to express my concern about degree mills in the UK, and have finally received the following letter. I think he is somewhat mistaken in referring to my "assertion that the majority of them are based in the UK." In any case, the gist of the letter seems to be that anyone wanting to run a degree mill is welcome to either use a UK "accomodation address" or base themselves in the UK, as long as they say they're not claiming to give a "UK qualification."

    If anyone wants to write to them, the address is:

    Higher Education
    Quality and
    Employability Division
    North 4
    Moorfoot
    Sheffield S1 4PQ

    Herewith:

    "Thank you for your letter of 27th August to the Secretary of State about bogus degree mills. I am responding on her behalf since my team within the Department is responsible for investigating bogus degrees.

    "The Department shares your concerns about these organisations. However, it does not agree with your assertion that the majority of them are based in the UK. This is simply not the case. A good number of these organisations come to our attention and they are thoroughly investigated by Trading Standards Departments, which usually discover that organisations are based overseas, indeed, many organisations claim US registration and accreditation. It is often discovered that any link with the UK is simply an accomodation address for authenticity, from which any correspondence is forwarded to the major operations overseas. There is no one in the UK to prosecute and our laws cannot extend overseas.

    "The UK law in this area is the Education Reform Act 1988 (section 214-217) which stipulates that it is an offence to offer a UK degree in the UK unless it is issued by an institution recognised by the Secretary of State. However, our laws do not apply to overseas institutions, which may offer their qualifications in the UK as long as it is made clear that they are not UK qualifications. Thus, institutions such as Harvard and Yale can offer their qualifications to UK students without breaking the law.

    "Some organisations do have bases in the UK and in your letter you mentioned a number of organisations - "American University in London" and the "American University of London." The Department is aware of these organisations and they appear to operate from different sites. However, both organisations clearly state that its qualifications are from the United States or are not UK qualifications. As I indicated above, this is not an offence in the UK since they are not purporting to be a UK institution.

    "The Department agrees with your views that these organisations muddy the jurisdictional waters by being incorporated and accredited in one country and offering qualifications in another. Furthermore, the validity of some overseas organisations is questionable. However, we are not in a position to arbitrarily decide which overseas organisations can and cannot offer their qualifications in this country. Accreditation and validation arrangements vary greatly between countries, and states in the case of the US and it is extremely difficult to determine and prove which overseas accreditation claims are valid and which are not.

    "Thank you again for your letter.

    "John Luckett
    Quality and Employability Division
    Higher Education Group."
     
  2. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    It is sad to see that the authorities in Britain continue to show no interest in the many people who are dragging down the reputation of "British education" worldwide. They wrote the same sort of letters when the Sussex College of Technology was one of the biggest phonies ever, operating worldwide, since Sussex made the "not a UK qualification" comment, buried in the small type. Same with Metropolitan Collegiate Institute, and its $100 medical degrees, one of which was used by the fake doctor on trial for manslaughter in North Carolina.

    They could, of course, change everything with a very simple law -- as simple as "Institutions not listed in the UNESCO Directory cannot use addresses in the UK." I've suggested in my book that nothing like this will happen until the Prime Minister is taken deathly ill in some 3rd world country, and the only doctor in the region has his MD from Metropolitan Collegiate.
     
  3. Byran Lee

    Byran Lee member

     

Share This Page