Firm fuels row over quality of teaching

Institutions want to halt ads targeting students left 'to drift' by 'underfunded' universities. Phil Baty writes.

Universities are up in arms over a private tuition service that is targeting campuses with claims that it offers students the teaching and support that "overcrowded and underfunded" institutions fail to provide.

Senior university officials have been trying to stop Independent Colleges and University Tutors (ICUT) advertising on campuses amid fears that it exploits students and encourages them to breach academic rules.

ICUT, which offers one-to-one tuition, said this week that business was booming as its team of 70 private tutors filled a gap created by universities that leave students "to drift" without support after making "inflated promises" to get "bums on seats". The company advertises services including "proofreading" for dissertations and promises to improve essay "content" to raise grades.

The National Union of Students had been set to endorse ICUT, but it pulled out after its executive ruled that the union should not promote a business offering a service that universities should provide or one that "would almost certainly contravene the academic regulations of some institutions".

Vincent McKee, director of ICUT, said his business was entirely legitimate and was being unfairly attacked because the sector was embarrassed about having its deficiencies highlighted.

"Universities maintain this pompous, windbag arrogance when they claim that they are providing for the needs of their students," Dr McKee said. "They are in denial about their quality."

Dr McKee, who holds a PhD from London Metropolitan University and has taught at London South Bank University, said the business, which operates in the Midlands only, had provided services to 1,000 students since its launch last year. It is about to expand into the rest of the UK and will shortly appoint a full-time national director. It expected to increase staff numbers to more than 100 over the next month.

ICUT charges about £30 for one and a half hours of personal tuition, and its tutors keep about £24 of that. Dr McKee said his employees - Jretired and working academics and postgraduate students - all observe universities' rules on unfair collaboration.

This year, Warwick University wrote to Dr McKee asking him to stop advertising on campus. Paul Greatrix, the director of academic and student affairs, said in a letter that the services were "inappropriate" and "exploitative" and that the university met all its students' teaching needs.

In a robust reply, Dr McKee said: "We have a right to pursue our lawful business." He claimed that 123 Warwick students had approached ICUT in February and March 2006.

A Warwick spokesman said the university was "uncomfortable" about the services being offered and added that there were a number of spelling errors in the company's advertising posters. He said the university offered a multitude of additional support to overseas students, who had been targeted by ICUT.

Philip Walking, pro vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Central England, also wrote to Dr McKee this year to ask ICUT to cease advertising on campus. He said: "We are simply concerned that students are not misled into believing that this service is in any way endorsed by the university.

We told him that if we find more posters we would put them in the bin."

ICUT is threatening to sue the NUS for damages after the union pulled out of a deal to advertise a discounted ICUT service on the NUS website. Dr McKee said he had printed 50,000 leaflets bearing the union's endorsement.

Andy Grant, NUS national director, told Dr McKee last week that the union's executive decided not to endorse the company because the NUS opposed privatisation of education and ICUT was "delivering services that ought to be provided to students by the further and higher education institutions they attend".