Innovation combats credential fraud

Recent analysis of 5,500 CVs in the UK found that a staggering 44% had discrepancies in education claims with 10% having false grades. So what are universities here doing to combat credential fraud?

Over the next year, all eight universities are rolling out a secure online credential verification service, called My eQuals. 

Through My eQuals, students and graduates will have online access to their records which they can, at their discretion, share with potential employers, professional bodies, other universities and other parties.

Employers will be able to check records more quickly and efficiently than is possible through the current paper-based, manual verification process. 

The online service minimises opportunities for inflating academic achievements or academic qualification fraud, so employers and agencies can have real confidence in the integrity of students’ qualifications as they can’t be tampered with.

It will also undercut international websites that offer fake degrees from universities around the world, including New Zealand.

The University of Auckland is the first New Zealand university to pilot My eQuals, alongside the universities of Melbourne and Monash in Australia, and goes live this week.

It is being implemented by AUT, the University of Waikato, Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, Lincoln University and Otago University over the next year.

Last year, both New Zealand and Australia joined the Groningen Declaration, a 20-country strong international initiative that aims to enhance student mobility and provide credential integrity and security for digital student academic data.

A copy of a test transcript is shown above.

Links: www.myequals.ac.nz