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.

Britain’s universities are said to be in the midst of a “plagiarism epidemic” after an investigation by The Times newspaper revealed how almost 50,000 students were caught cheating in the last three years. The newspaper also found international students - from outside the European Union - to be the worst offenders, coming out as being more than four times as likely to cheat in exams and coursework, according to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

It was the Director of the University of Law in Le Havre who drew this violation to the attention of the Public Prosecutor. Cheating on an exam is punished by a maximum sentence of 3 years imprisonment and a fine of 9000 Euros.

A university of Bordeaux student was condemned to three months imprisonment for having cheated several times, assisted by accomplices, during law exams. He appeared in the dock of the fifth chamber of the magistrate's court escorted by two policemen.