Monitoring agency calls British degrees ‘rotten’, ‘unreliable’

“The way that degrees are classified is a rotten system. It just doesn’t work any more,” QAA’s Chief Executive Peter Williams was quoted by The Daily Telegraph as saying.

In the QAA report, he has pointed out that the influx of foreign students in British varsities is actually pushing standards down because they expect their tuition fees would automatically buy them a degree.

Many British universities employ agents for recruiting students abroad. While fees of students in the United Kingdom are capped, those coming from the overseas pay much more.

“There’s a belief from some overseas students that if they pay their fees, they will get a degree. We have to make clear that does not operate here,” the British daily quoted Williams as saying.

In addition, the QAA report has highlighted how in some institutions, particularly in London, overseas students accounted for up to 30 per cent of undergraduates. In fact, in one unnamed institution, the proportion was 40 per cent.

The report has also flayed measures for dealing with plagiarism as well as the use of external examiners. But, Diana Warwick, Chief Executive of Universities UK, which represents Vice-Chancellors, has disagreed.

“The quality of UK honours degrees is the envy of the world. QAA’s own audit is the way we assure ourselves of that. We note in particular comments about the current degree classification system. The sector is already debating the way we classify these degrees. The QAA recognises that the support institutions give their international students is a strength. Institutions are well aware of the issue of the sustainability of international student numbers. Universities are aware some international students may have specific needs in terms of language and understanding different styles of learning. Much is already being done to support them and ensure they succeed in their studies to the standard expected,” Warwick said.