Newcastle University has kicked out 46 foreign ‘students’ after they were found to have forged their qualifications to gain entry. All but one of the 46 expelled were Chinese and had enrolled on the business studies course in September.

Officials said most appeared to be the victims of bogus ‘agents’ based in China or the UK who were paid to submit applications on their behalf.

An investigation concluded that the students, who arrived at the university in the last few weeks, had their qualifications altered to state higher grades.

The university said it first became suspicious due to the students’ poor performance in its English Language Assessment, which is compulsory for overseas students.

Officials cross-checked certificates submitted in support of student applications and it became apparent that “a significant number were high quality forgeries.”

A spokesman also said that he had contacted the Home Office and the police and called for tighter controls at all universities in the UK to clampdown on what he described as “a serious problem.”

The forgeries, mainly certificates for English language qualifications or degrees awarded by other universities, were said to be of such “high quality” that the usual checks by admissions officials could not have identified them as fakes. Of the excluded students, 29 are postgraduates and 17 undergraduates.