We wanted to understand what providers expect the DfE to do in instances of fraud. This will feed into policies for dealing with fraudulent applications.
What we researched
We asked providers to talk about instances of fraudulent applications and how they handled them.
We also asked whether there are situations where they would expect the DfE to be involved.
Who we researched with
We carried out research sessions with:
- 2 higher education institutions
- 4 school-centred initial teacher training providers
- 3 school direct providers
All participants were administrators or admissions leads.
What we found
Providers tend to handle fraud themselves. They do not expect that the DfE will play a role in enforcement or application of penalties.
However, providers are looking for written guidance on how to handle different forms of fraud. They do not want their own processes to be determined for them, but they want enough detail in the guidance to help design those processes.
Providers want guidance on consequences they could implement if a candidate commits a certain type of fraud. They feel this would increase consistency across providers and also within the same provider.
Providers did not have many examples of fraud, but what they’ve experienced can be divided into two categories:
- false or incorrect qualifications
- personal statements were plagiarised
False or incorrect qualifications
Providers usually noticed this when the candidate supplied their certificates.
One provider talked about a candidate’s parent upgrading their child’s actual grades. This was only discovered when the certificates did not match. The candidate was unaware that it had taken place.
Personal statements were plagiarised
Providers often favourably mentioned the UCAS plagiarism detection system. Even those who had not directly experienced it were aware it existed.
Participants find it reassuring to know that this system is operating.
Further research
We did not investigate whether users would expect the DfE to ban fraudulent applicants from reapplying. We will do this in future research.