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The Bureau of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Education is discussing the creation of a European observatory for ethical integrity and transparency in Higher Education, a landmark initiative against educational fraud. The observatory aims to tackle the growing problem of fake diplomas with objectives such as data collection, promotion of ethical practices, prevention of corruption and international cooperation. Despite bureaucratic, financial and legal challenges, this initiative offers considerable potential benefits for the quality and reputation of higher education in Europe.

Questions about using artificial intelligence go further than cheating on exams or generating text for scientific articles. They concern academic values the integrity of academic work, but also the exploration of the changing relationship between humans and machines. A recent statement by the European University Association, ChatGPT raises issues for universities in terms of updating policies to accommodate such tools while preserving recognition of course work and authentic assessment.

Although steps have been taken by the Irish authorities, such as the enactment of legislation penalizing essay mills, officials believe that universities need targeted funding to help protect the quality and integrity of teaching and learning. Reports show that 10% of students may have used contract cheating services and they can be difficult to detect as they can go undetected by plagiarism detection software.

The Office for Students (OfS) has published a circular detailing minimum acceptable student outcomes which set thresholds for drop-out rates, course completion and graduate employment that universities and colleges will need to meet to avoid further investigation. According to Ofs, over 60,000 students on full-time undergraduate courses are currently enrolled at institutions in England that could be sanctioned for low quality and poor value for money.

Council of Europe and the European Union are assisting Serbian authorities in order to improve the quality of education through applying preventive mechanisms based on Council of Europe standards and practices. The actions is being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education, while involving a wider group of stakeholders, including public universities, the Anti-Corruption Agency, education policy and research institutes, NGOs and academics.