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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.

Several hundred Chinese students enrolled at the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) at Toulon University, are thought to have bought their degrees. The preliminary inquiry begun on 26 March into "bribery, bribe-taking, and fraud" is investigating practices thought to have started four years ago.

According to teacher estimates, 20% of assignments are copied and pasted from other sources. Anti-plagiarism charters should be systematically signed by both universities and students, but nothing can beat the eagle eye of the lecturer.

Compared to boys, girls are more exposed to corrupt practices, especially girls within the 15-19 age group. Eradicating the phenomenon through the increase of public awareness and the creation of units to fight corruption in schools is the challenge facing educational authorities.

Students, lecturers: who are the plagiarists? Has the Internet revolutionized cheating? How can we combat this phenomenon, which over the last five years has taken on exponential dimensions.

Some 70.5% of French pupils admit to having cheated in school, according to a study on exam fraud conducted among 1,815 students in French multidisciplinary universities.

According to the President of a University in Perpignan in the department of the Pyrénées-Orientales which has the third highest rate of unemployment in France: "These bogus students have always existed but in the past three years, they are on the increase, partly due to youth unemployment and a lack of financial support for the transition period between school and work ...".

A few years ago, not many companies recognized the problem of false diplomas. According to a study published in February 2013, 75% of CVs are fake, 90% of the candidates justify doctoring a CV due to the fact that "competition is tougher" and that "one has to sell well." The study has also revealed that 33% of candidates often or always have false diplomas.

The parliament's representative of French citizens living in Northern Europe, pleads for a systematic use of anti-plagiarism software. "It is a question of equal chances", insists the Deputy when addressing the Ministers of National and Higher Education on this subject.

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.