Universities reject more scrutiny

Universities have defended the effectiveness of self-regulation in maintaining standards - rejecting any need for further external scrutiny.

Farce'

It concludes that there are sufficient checks and the report identifies no weaknesses - saying that the current system is "widely admired internationally".

It follows a series of reports raising doubts about the reliability of degree grades - with whistleblowers from within universities challenging the effectiveness of checks on the quality of students' work.

Among the concerns were the external examiner system, overseas students with inadequate language skills, grade inflation, plagiarism, doubts over the classification of degrees, the manipulation of satisfaction surveys and the pressure on academics to adjust marks to protect a university's image.

This had prompted questions about a lack of public accountability in a university system that was seeking increasing amounts of public money.

Phil Willis, chair of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills select committee, said that the lack of certainty over the value of university degrees was "descending into farce".

There had also been sceptical questioning from MPs on whether the watchdog, the Quality Assurance Agency, could effectively monitor such a diverse system.

MPs had been told that at present no university department was currently assessed as being below standard and that the watchdog had never received a "cause for complaint" from students or academics.

At a meeting in the House of Lords, the university chiefs presented their own report, which concluded that university-led checks were an effective guarantee of standards - and denied that there was any conflict of interests.