Third of employers don’t check degrees

Nick Elvin

A third of employers don’t request degree certificates from job applicants, according to research by the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD).

The survey, which asked employers about their approach to verifying qualifications, found that 63% of respondents ask for certificates.

Of those who do request them, 76% assume they are legitimate and don’t verify them with the issuing university, and 32% accept copies rather than original documents.

According to Jayne Rowley, director of HEDD, a government-backed online degree verification service, most degree fraud goes undetected due to the lack of proper checks being made by employers. This is despite it being widely publicised that a third of applicants admit to lying on their CVs, as well as a growth in the number of bogus institutions offering fake degrees.

“While many businesses, particularly when recruiting graduates, invest significantly in sophisticated application tracking, assessment centres, psychometric testing and so on, few verify qualifications as part of that process,” she added.

“Many of us want to believe that people are telling the truth, so we place our trust in references, applications and interviews. With a low perception of the frequency and risks of qualification fraud it’s easy to become complacent. But some people are unscrupulous and looking to take advantage. If someone is lying about their qualifications we have to question their overall integrity as a potential employee.

“It’s important to request original degree certificates and check them out with the university that issued them. Many certificates look legitimate yet have subjects and grades altered as well as totally fabricated universities and courses.”

HEDD also surveyed students and graduates about degree fraud. Three quarters said they expect employers to check their qualifications and 82% would like to see verification compulsory.

Rowley added: “Graduates are used to rigorous checks by UCAS pre-university and having their academic work verified by plagiarism detection software to prevent cheating, but the same rigour isn’t in place for job applications and employment.

“There is a duty of care incumbent upon organisations and universities to take this seriously and ensure the interests of genuine graduates are protected, particularly given the high financial investment.”