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As part of the government's crackdown on degree fraud, and to safeguard the international reputation of UK universities, 85 fake UK university websites have been shut down since 2015. Websites have also been found selling fake degree certificates from real universities: a BBC investigation in 2014 found a website selling the University of Kent for £500, which were described as for “novelty purposes, or as a replacement for lost diplomas”. Employers are encouraged to carefully vet the qualifications of any new employees as “The only way to stop these operators is to remove the demand”.

According to the Head of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), essay mills have become “public health and safety issue”, affecting all of society. As a result of students cheating in their degrees, there will be people entering into professions who are not qualified to carry out the work that is required. This practice is spreading now to the sixth-formers going to essay mills to get through their coursework at school.

Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd), which monitors fake degrees, has recorded 243 fake institutions. Manchester Open University advertised degrees for fees up to £35,000 on its website and claimed to have a campus on Oxford Road, with 2,000 students from 90 different countries studying degrees in history, English and medicine. Officials were unable to find a trace of the institution. The Oxbridge University of Kilmurry, providing master's degrees, doctorates and professional qualifications on its website is registered in the Gambia.

Apparently, degrees from Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University can be obtained for as little as £200, complete with university emblems and gold seals. It has emerged that copies of RGU degrees even contained faked signatures. Other institutions being targeted include St Andrews University, Glasgow University, and Edinburgh University. The information has come to light after a Sunday newspaper claimed that one website sold over 3,000 fake qualifications from various education establishments to UK-based buyers between 2013 and 2014. These included degrees, doctorates, and PhDs.

Thousands of UK nationals have bought fake degrees from a multi-million pound "diploma mill" in Pakistan, a BBC Radio 4's File on Four programme investigation has found. Buyers include NHS consultants, nurses and a large defence contractor. One British buyer spent almost £500,000 on bogus documents. The Department for Education said it was taking "decisive action to crack down on degree fraud" that "cheats genuine learners

The University of Devonshire, the University of Wexford and the University of Palmers Green are among the trading names of the University Degree Programme, set up with websites looking like they were licensed universities. Thankfully, these fake institutions have all long since been shut down, though the qualifications they issued may still be in use. New fake universities appear all the time. The process to set up a fake university can be easy. Continued alertness and vigilance is needed to preserve academic integrity. We need to stop fake universities trading on commodities that they’re not licensed to award.

More than 40 fraudulent websites have been shut down in a major crackdown on the sale of fake degrees. The sites closed included those selling authentic-looking certificates using the names of real British universities. Others were providers offering distance learning courses but were not valid UK degree awarding bodies. New graduates have been asked not to take photographs with their real degree certificates in case they inadvertently aid fraudsters.

More than 30 fake universities have been shut down by the Government following a crackdown on worthless degrees, after a website in China was found selling degree certificates from dozens of UK universities for £500 each. However, the UK is powerless to act against roughly 80 per cent of offenders because they are based outside the country and cannot be prosecuted, according to Prospects, the graduate careers expert. As the project starts its second year, it will focus on dealing with offenders at a local level through international collaboration with the equivalent authorities overseas, HEDD said.

A Mail and Guardian reporter reveals the growing trend of fake degrees through her investigation. More specifically, Ashford University and Belford University offer life experience degrees, where qualifications can be obtained solely through the payment of a fee, without any training or studying required. These documents are available online and are being included on CVs across all levels of the employment sector.

A university has excluded 50 foreign students it believes used forged certificates to enhance their applications. It said it regretted having to exclude the students because many of them appeared to be victims of bogus "agents", based either in China or Britain (49 students came from China and one from Taiwan), who were paid to submit applications, including supporting documents, on their behalf. The forgeries, mainly certificates for English language qualifications or degrees awarded by other universities, are of such high quality that they could not have been detected by the usual checks carried out by admissions officers. The university is introducing a number of changes to its admissions procedures, one of which will be to draw up and publish on its website a list of approved agents.