The Quality Assurance Agency raised an alarm about a growing number of foreign companies that sell fake degrees and doctorates online to people who have 'life experience'.
The global market in fake degrees and college diplomas is estimated to be worth up to $1 billion a year. A bachelor's degree can be bought for as little as $150 and a doctorate for $500, The Times Daily reported.
Most of the 'universities' offer degrees for 'life experience', without requiring customers to attend classes or take exams.
Many capitalise on the international reputation of British higher education by inventing British-sounding names to enhance their credibility online.
George Weah, former Chelsea footballer and Liberian presidential candidate, was found to have a degree from the fictitious Parkwood University in London, the report said.
Bill Rammell, Britain's Higher Education Minister, acknowledged that there was a problem with companies offering bogus degrees, but said it was a global matter. The report said academic inspectors in other countries expressed concern that Britain was becoming a haven for fake universities.
A legal loophole makes it possible for overseas operations to register as universities provided that they do not claim to be offering British degrees.
Many companies seek to give themselves respectability by adopting British names and titles, while mentioning only in the small print on their websites that their degrees are not approved by any British academic bodies.
