Thousands of international applicants offered postgraduate admission to UK universities last year were found to have submitted false or misleading academic qualifications, according to a new report by academic verification company Qualification Check.
The consultancy analysed approximately 55,000 postgraduate applicants who received offers from a sample of 45 UK higher education institutions during the 2024–2025 admissions cycle. It found that nearly 5 percent of those applicants did not possess the qualifications or grades they claimed in their applications.
The findings have renewed concerns about admissions verification in the UK higher education sector, particularly as universities continue to rely on international student enrolment while facing tighter immigration and visa compliance requirements.
According to Qualification Check, many of the UK’s roughly 150 universities still do not carry out comprehensive verification of applicants’ academic credentials, leaving admissions systems vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated document fraud enabled by digital technology and artificial intelligence.
Ed Hall, Chief Executive of Qualification Check, said universities need to strengthen their verification processes by confirming applicants’ academic records directly with the institutions where the qualifications were obtained.
“There is a lack of knowledge about how to do robust verification, and with artificial intelligence, certificates in digital format are very easily falsified,” Hall said.
The report found that applicants most frequently claimed false qualifications from institutions in Nigeria, followed by Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Canada. The findings relate to the institutions applicants claimed to have attended and do not necessarily reflect the applicants’ nationality or country of origin.
Among the cases identified, around two-fifths involved forged academic documents, while approximately one-fifth involved applicants claiming grades they had not earned or submitting records that could not be verified.
Business and Management programmes accounted for the largest share of applications involving false qualifications, reflecting the popularity of those courses among international applicants.
Qualification Check also reported that applicants commonly cited degrees from well-known institutions, including the University of Lagos in Nigeria, Kurukshetra University in India, and Boston University in the United States. In some instances, applicants allegedly submitted altered certificates, created fake university websites, or provided fraudulent QR codes designed to resemble official institutional portals. The consultancy also identified a small number of cases in which individuals within higher education institutions were reportedly involved in falsely confirming applicants’ academic records.
Responding to the findings, Universities UK emphasised that the overwhelming majority of international students submit legitimate applications.
“The vast majority of international students make genuine, legitimate and legal applications. These students are a huge asset to the sector,” the organisation said in a statement.
It added that universities invest significant time and resources to ensure applicants meet visa and immigration requirements and take their compliance responsibilities seriously.
Separate data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) showed that, among undergraduate applicants in 2024, 1,375 out of 151,210 non-UK-domiciled applications were flagged as suspicious. The number declined to 435 out of 156,060 applications in 2025. UCAS also reported that only 145 applications from UK-domiciled students were cancelled during the same period.
