I cannot find anything relevant or that matches on the dfes website. If it is not legitimate then the fact that it has a .ac.uk url as well is a touch distressing, however JANET (the registrar) has made mistakes before. If have e-mailed my contact at the dfes for further info, but he will not see the message until next week
not on the DfES lists Look here: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/recognisedukdegrees/wcoukd.shtml for links to the UK's Department for Education and Skills lists of "Recognised Bodies" and "Listed Bodies." "The London College UCK" does not appear on either list. Tha means it is not a UK university wih the right of granting degrees or of offering courses that can be applied as credit towards a UK degree. On this page: http://www.lcuck.ac.uk/lc/disclaimer.htm one reads the following disclaimer... Alabama!
"non-profit degree-granting institution in the states of Alabama and Louisiana, USA." Thanks, did not get as far as looking at the rest of the site. Obviousl y they need to amend their advertising to make that statyement at least as prominent as their name in all relevant parts of their site(that would potentially get them round the legislation). Clearly they would not do that so I expect the DfES will use their inluence to pull the .ac.uk registration.
That sounds awfully impressive. Traditional establishment? An Act passed by Her Majesty's Government? Hot damn, it's gotta be good! Except for the fact that what this news is really telling us that this "college" is completely unregulated. So why does a traditional British university complete with a government act need to be chartered and incorporated (same thing) thousands of miles away in a different country? What has Alabama got to do with awarding degrees in London? Since this wonder doesn't actually operate anywhere close to Alabama, whatever sickly and anemic regulations that state can muster probably don't even apply to it. Alabama isn't going to worry its Nascar-lovin', dixie-drawlin', Bible-thumpin' head any if this thing offers its programs way off in London. Wherever that is. That slight-of-hand about being 'independent' eliminates all those little annoyances like the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. So... who does recognize this thing's academic standing? We should trust this school's academics because it hires adjuncts? Ok... Didn't Knightsbridge's representatives make that same argument here? If you compile a list of faculty with day jobs elsewhere who express a willingness to work as an adjunct for you (even if they are never actually paid to teach a course), they somehow turn into 'external examiners' and therefore become your accreditors! Neat. It looks to me like this thing is kind of trying to perform a Knightsbridge, but doing it in England using the appalling off-shore registration loophole.
Quite simply, as it is not on the DfES approved list the college MUST NOT give the impression that it offers UK degrees and it MUST take significant steps to ensure that its students are aware of that fact. I would expect the Alabama source to be indicated (equally prominently) with/next to the details of each and every degree course. Unfortunatley I doubt whether any of the principals are based in the UK, which makes enforcement difficult.
Allegedly this was the :- THE LONDON COLLEGE (UNIV. COLLEGE KENSINGTON) LIMITED with the 'univ' being used because of restrictions on the word 'university' in Business Names Regs. It now seems to registered as :- LONDON COLLEGE UCK LIMITED (Information from Companies House www.companieshouse.gov.uk)
