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The alleged peddling of diplomas to Chinese students has puzzled the universities implicated, which are now concerned over the effect of aspersions on the international renown of French tertiary training. Two inquiries – one judicial and one administrative – were opened up following complaints alleging that deals were done in which Chinese students were awarded diplomas in exchange for large amounts of money.

The Council for Degree Accreditation (KYSATS) and the Pancyprian Association of Medical Practitioners are investigating some Cypriot and Greek doctors accused of having bought fake medical degrees from Romanian universities. However, it has been confirmed that it would be very difficult to validate whether a degree was bought or earned, because they would not examine the candidates' knowledge, instead the procedures and whether all the procedures were followed and legal is what is going to be investigated.

Last year, the ombudsman for Andalusia received 150 complaints over the enrolment process, according to the 2008 report just published. This is why he favours harsher penalties for fraudulent applications as there are no clear-cut punitive measures that set an example. However, the province's education ministry maintains that punishment is not the best response, so no sanctions will be taken.

The AITES Academy, which provides vocational training and saw hundreds of its nightclub doorman's certificates falsified, took its case to the Direcció General de Jocs i Espectacles de la Generalitat some six months ago to inform that the seal of the centre was being used to issue certificates whereas the corresponding training was not done. Police are continuing to investigate the matter and at least 400 fraudulent authorizations have been uncovered.

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.