UK: Whistle-blower warning on degrees

Degrees are being awarded to overseas students who speak almost no English, claims a whistle-blowing academic. BBC News reports the academic, at a famous UK university, as saying that postgraduate degrees are awarded to students lacking in the most basic language skills. There are concerns that financial pressures to recruit overseas students for cash rather than quality could threaten the credibility of degrees. But Universities UK says there are "rigorous" checks on standards.

The number of overseas students taking higher degree courses, such as masters and doctorates, has soared - rising more than eightfold since the mid-1990s, BBC News continues. More than 60% of higher degree students are now from outside the UK.

Overseas students have been seen as a lucrative source of revenue, with the Higher Education Policy Institute calculating payments to universities of almost £1.5 billion a year in fees plus £2.2bn in living costs.
Full report on the BBC News site