China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Centre, today announced the signing of an exclusive contract with Verifile, Europe’s leading pre-employment screening company to provide a more streamlined system to verify Chinese academic and vocational qualifications.
Up to now employers and educational institutions have struggled with validating qualifications gained in China. Around 80,000 Chinese students study in the UK annually, and nearly 100 Chinese educated doctors are practicing in the UK.
As the Chinese economy cools more highly qualified Chinese nationals are likely to seek work or further study here.
The difficulties of verifying qualifications issued from a country with a different educational system and written characters, or sinographs, has been compounded by the rapid expansion in the Chinese higher education system – 5 times more students graduated in 2006 than in 1999.
This has increased difficulties in distinguishing between genuine qualifications issued from officially recognised Chinese educational institutions from those issued by “degree mills” – companies, often based on-line, which sell bogus qualifications without study.
The exclusive contract with CDGDC will see Verifile as their sole partner in the UK for pre-employment screening.
From today organisations that employ individuals with qualifications gained in China and educational institutions with prospective students with qualifications gained in China can visit one central online portal to verify any degree or transcript from a Chinese institution, including high schools, universities and vocational programmes.
A formal verification report would be issued within 20 working days and would cover any recognised institution in China, making the process more efficient for businesses and educational institutions within the UK, and for individuals with Chinese qualifications.
Qualifications covered by this new service from Verifile and CDGDC include:
- Higher Education
- Vocational Education
- High School Education
Director of Verification Department at CDGDC Li Ping comments, “Through the partnership between CDGDC and Verifile we hope to streamline the movement of people between our two countries.”
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the CDGDC. Our proven robust internet based verification system coupled with our knowledge of Chinese authorisation and legal compliance procedures will ensure employers, universities and government organisations in the UK and Europe have an easy and accessible way to verify Chinese qualifications,” says Eyal Ben Cohen, Managing Director of Verifile.
Each verification report for a Chinese qualification will cost £45 and will take up to 20 working days. The service is available to both organisations and individuals.
Organisations can apply to verify a Chinese qualification on behalf of their applicants. Individuals with a Chinese qualification can also apply to have their qualification verified or can nominate an agent to do this on their behalf.
