LONDON, ENGLAND - British universities are failing to safeguard standards, leading to a rapid rise in the awarding of top degrees, a damning report by a committee of MPs said yesterday.

The committee said the system for safeguarding quality is out-of-date and inconsistent, that there is complacency in leadership, and that urgent action is required.

Universities rejected the accusations, however, and criticised the report as 'ill-thought through'.

The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee said in its report that it is unacceptable that vice-chancellors are unable to give a straightforward answer about whether different universities required the same intellectual standards when awarding degrees.

'The public purse supports higher education to the tune of &pound15 billion (S$36 billion) and it is essential those studying at higher education institutions are awarded degrees that measure accurately and consistently the intellectual development and skills students have achieved,' the report said.

The BBC also quoted the report as saying any attempts to claim increasing demand for courses, including from overseas students, is proof that university standards are being maintained are 'absurd and disreputable'.

Last year, 61 per cent of degrees awarded in Britain were either first or upper seconds. In 1997, the proportion was just 53 per cent.

'We are extremely concerned that inconsistency is rife and there is a reluctance to address this issue,' said committee chairman Phil Willis.

The report said the Quality Assurance Agency - the body which currently oversees standards at universities - needs radical transformation and should be changed into an independent body with a specific remit to maintain academic quality.

However, Ms Diana Warwick of Universities UK said: 'Maintaining standards is absolutely vital but we reject the suggestion that the way to improve the system that protects standards is to create some super-quango.

'The raft of centralising recommendations appear to us ill-thought through, disproportionate to the scale of any problem identified, and made without supporting evidence.'

Ms Wendy Piatt of the Russell Group of leading universities agreed, telling the BBC: 'Universities are not schools. An essential feature of a university is its academic freedom and autonomy, with the responsibility to award degrees and uphold standards.'

The report was also challenged by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Peter Mandelson, who told the broadcaster: 'I don't recognise the committee's description of our higher education sector, which is in fact world-class and second only to the USA as a top destination for overseas students.'