www.projectslc.org confirms ￡60,000 payout from ‘Mickey Mouse’ UK degree course seller! Paybacks from mis-selling universities continue!

With nearly ￡80million paid out by UK universities under Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) during 2018, one rare payout unrestricted by an NDA confirms a Graduate's ￡60,000 payout from another university over ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree from a Uni ranked only 118th for 2020 in the league of UK Universities!

• Pok Wong received an out-of-court settlement worth ￡61,000 after complaining! 
• She graduated with a first-class degree in international business strategy  
• Anglia Ruskin ranked only 118th of UK Universities, strongly disputed her allegations for some considerable time before it decided to pay a ￡15,000 settlement plus ￡46,000 towards her legal fees 
• Anglia Ruskin position in UK University League drops further to 118th for 2020 from 216th during 2019! Beware of mis-selling by UK Universities leads to payback under consumer and regulatory law!

The graduate has won a legal battle against her former university after claiming that she ended up with a ‘Mickey Mouse degree’. Anglia Ruskin has long self-promoted its ability to attract overseas consumers onto higher charging degree courses.

However, a rare publically know settlement from one claim by Ms Pok Wong, 30, led to an out-of-court settlement worth ￡61,000 after complaining that Anglia Ruskin University ‘fraudulently misrepresented’ a business course for which she enrolled in 2011.

Clearly, UK universities need to be very aware their long-standing over-egging of their position within academic tables can lead to significant consumer detriment and paybacks via the courts!

The successful Complainant added: ‘In light of this settlement I think universities should be careful about what they say in prospectuses.

‘I think they often make promises which they know will never materialise or are simply not true.’

Speaking ahead of the settlement last year, she said: ‘Although I graduated with a first-class degree in 2013, it is a Mickey Mouse degree.’ 

Ms Wong graduated with a first-class degree in international business strategy in 2013 but felt claims in the university’s prospectus that it was a ‘renowned centre of excellence’ that offered a ‘high quality of teaching’ were untrue. It may seem to many, Pok Wong's assessments have been proved correct?

Anglia Ruskin presently ranks further down the 2020 UK University league tables down to 118th from 116th in 2019! It seems likely misleading advertising from Universities will add to their payments in compensation for misled and deceived students?

Pok Wong, 30, has received an out-of-court settlement worth ￡61,000 after complaining that Anglia Ruskin University ‘fraudulently misrepresented’ a business course for which she enrolled in 2011

Anglia Ruskin University, which has campuses in Chelmsford, Cambridge and London, strongly disputed her allegations but has now agreed to pay her a ￡15,000 settlement plus ￡46,000 towards her legal fees.

The experts at www.projectslc.org operating the Office For Student Refunds believe her success will indicate to many unhappy with their earnings from a uni degree to take begin their complaints and refund applications via their Free Review website.

Ms Wong, who now lives in Hong Kong, told The Sunday Telegraph: ‘The payout means this is a victory for me, despite the university strenuously fighting my case and denying any responsibility.’

Anglia Ruskin University, encompassing potential other misled students via campuses in Chelmsford, Cambridge and London, while strongly disputing her allegations agreed to pay her a ￡15,000 settlement plus ￡46,000 towards her legal fees! The comic value of the irony of academic hypocrisy seems lost on Anglia Ruskin? Maybe a bully made them agree to pay what they denied they owed?

She argued that it had proved useless in her efforts to secure ‘a rewarding job with prospects’.

Anglia Ruskin, which holds a descending mid-ranking in UK university league tables, said that because the settlement was out of court, nothing had been proved in law! Maybe their law degree lectures omit common-sense conclusions and the court of public opinion when a denying party pays such a huge amount?

A spokesman said: ‘Ms Wong’s longstanding litigation… has been settled at the instruction of our insurers to draw a line under these matters and to prevent a further escalation of their legal costs.

In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against six universities – Leicester, East Anglia, Strathclyde, Falmouth, Teesside and the University of West London. 

It said that universities had to be able to prove claims that they made about their status.

A spokesman for the National Union of Students said Ms Wong’s case ‘indicates a way students can seek recourse’.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, students typically graduate with debts of about ￡50,000. Approximately 87% of Students feel their courses were 'not value for money'?

Some, particularly those who attended lower-ranking universities and studied arts or humanities, end up earning less than non-graduates and remain liable for compounding interest loans for the majority of their working lives which will need paying back!