Welsh universities fall out over visa scam

A report from the QAA found serious shortcomings in the way the University of Wales collaborated with colleges around the world. Photo / Thinkstock

A row has broken out among Welsh universities over who is responsible for scandals which have hit the University of Wales, the BBC says.

The bust-up comes after allegations of a visa scam at a University of Wales partner college in London.

Rayat London College - one of 130 around the world approved by the University of Wales to design and teach courses leading to its degrees - has been suspended by the UK Border Agency and prevented from recruiting overseas students.

The BBC says that each partnership is assigned a moderator who reports back to the university, and that they are often a member of staff at other Welsh universities.

BBC Wales last year revealed that Fazley Yaakob, a pop star with two bogus degrees, was running a college offering University of Wales courses in Malaysia. A damning report from the higher education watchdog, the QAA, followed. The report found serious shortcomings in the way the university collaborated with colleges around the world.

The BBC says the University of Wales has issued figures detailing payments it claims it made to other Welsh universities for overseeing its foreign partnerships.

The BBC also says the university also claims that the two most controversial partnerships, with Fazley International College and Rayat London College, were looked after by staff from Bangor University and the University of Wales Newport respectively.

Bangor University said it was astounded by the claims, while University of Wales Newport spokesman said: "The University of Wales pays other universities to release staff from contracted hours to work under payment and contract of the University of Wales. To try to infer that the involvement of Welsh universities in this process is any more than this is an attempt to distract from the real issues facing the University of Wales."

The UK Border Agency and Metropolitan police are continuing their inquiries and the QAA said it was looking at the evidence before deciding whether to launch an investigation.

A spokesperson for the QAA said: "We take seriously any situation that compromises the reputation of UK HE [higher education]."

- AGENCIES