Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Last summer, Amy Chase from Cardiff signed up two home study diplomas in child care and interior design.

"I was applying for an au pair job at the same time I was looking for courses" she said, "because most au pair jobs they like you to have qualifications already. The interior design was more to go on in the future it would be my dream job."

So Amy did some homework and decided to go with the National Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Study College, as she was impressed by the company website and tempted by their 'buy one get one free' offer which meant she could study two courses for just Β£195.

She also believed that the courses would be accredited or recognised.

"You were led to believe it was", she explained, "because it said you'd get a level 3 diploma which is the equivalent to an NVQ level 3."

When the first part of the course materials arrived she was surprised to see that the same tutor - Philip August - was offering expert tuition in both childcare and interior design.

He seemed to be man of many talents! "He was the same guy, Philip August," Amy said.

"I rang him while I was doing one of the child psychology essays because I was worried about word count and they just were very blase and vague and said don't worry about it, it's fine."

Despite the two for one offer, Amy was charged twice for her courses. In several e-mails, Philip August has promised a refund, but four months on it hasn't arrived.

The childcare course that Amy signed up for claims to be equivalent to an NVQ Level 3. To see how it measures up X-Ray asked a lecturer in childcare at Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff for her opinion of the course material.

Julie Holden has been working in childcare for 30 years and teaches several accredited courses, including NVQ Level 3.

"It is very woolly", Julie told X-Ray. "And also some of the references that were made in the text were quite confusing as to whether it was taken from a text book or whether it was actually the author's opinion."

And the all important question - is it equivalent to an NVQ level 3? "Not if it's not accredited", Julie said. "It's not worth the paper it's written on."

So if childcare's not up to scratch, what about interior design? The course material Amy received was packed full of information about the history and origins of interior design.

We wondered if course tutor, Philip August, was in fact an interior design expert - until we discovered that huge chunks of the course book are identical to the encyclopaedia MSN Encarta!

We told the online encyclopaedia that Mr August was apparently helping himself to their expertise and they said they'll be contacting him very soon.

We decided it was time to check out those qualifications offered for ourselves. Our researcher phoned the National Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Study College to find out what they told potential students about the diplomas they offer.

When she asked about the value of qualifications, a member of staff said, "The Higher Diploma will give you a Level 4 Diploma and that'll be comparable to an NVQ 4.

"Then we do a Fellowship programme which is Level 5 and that's comparable to a first year foundation course, which would get you into university or further study.

"Employers do recognise it and we do have students worldwide so it is recognised nationally and internationally."

But university admissions body UCAS told X-Ray they don't recognise any 'qualifications' awarded by the National Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Study College, or by Mr August's previous company Adult Correspondence Training.

And it seems that that company director and talented tutor Philip August's expertise doesn't stop at childcare and interior design. It appears he's been the king of multi-tasking for years!

Cheryl Walkling runs a care home in Amlwch on Anglesey and wanted to return to studying to improve her career prosepcts and support her family.

In the late 1990s she did a diploma course in 'care of the elderly' with Adult Correspondence Training. As well as running the college, Philip August was also Cheryl's personal tutor.

After a year of studying Cheryl passed her diploma with flying colours. She decided to stretch herself further - and started studying for a doctorate in clinical psychology and sociology, again with Adult Correspondence Training.

But although it was a completely new subject, it was still the same tutor, Philip August!

"The reason I went on to do the doctorate is I thought if I was doing so well, I could go further and actually it was qualification I thought everybody recognised", Cheryl explained.

At the time, Cheryl's dad was dying from cancer and she was also bringing up three young children. But she ploughed on with the essays, spending up to 25 hours a week studying, until she got the result she wanted.

"When I actually got my certificate through which said I'd passed my doctorate I went out telling everybody!", said Cheryl.

"All my friends came for a drink at the pub to celebrate, my family celebrated, my children hugged me and thought it was fantastic, Mum had done this great big thing!"

In total, Cheryl says she spent more than Β£1,000 on her home study courses. She started to make plans to fulfil her ambition of emigrating to New Zealand - but her dreams were shattered when the New Zealand authorities would not recognise her qualifications.

Cheryl was devastated. When she started to investigate she discovered that back in 2004, Philip August was prosecuted under the Education Reform Act for awarding a fake doctorate in psychology and criminology to a woman from Bournemouth.

Only universities and higher education institutions are allowed to award doctorates and degrees. The case, brought by Bournemouth Trading Standards led to Philip August being fined a thousand pounds for selling a fake doctorate, just like Cheryl's.

"I feel I've been cheated of time I should have spent with my family", Cheryl told X-Ray.

"All those years of study, for what? A piece of paper that's not worth anything. I could take a match to it now, light it. I couldn't go anywhere with those qualifications."

Cheryl now has accredited qualifications from Bangor University. Her fake doctorate was awarded almost 10 years ago, so she can't take legal action against Philip August.

But in Cardiff, Amy is determined to get a full refund: "People put their lives on hold for this and it's just completely misleading, everything about it is misleading, every single thing!"

So what does Philip August make of these complaints about dubious diplomas and dodgy doctorates? Well, despite our repeated attempts to speak to him, he refused to do an interview but did send a statement.

He told us that the National Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Study College takes complaints seriously and said he'll be contacting Amy and Cheryl about the issues they raise.

When asked about his expertise in all those subjects, he said he merely provides general support across the entire course range and passes on queries to specialised tutors when required.

X-Ray then phoned Mr August and told him that the conversation was being recorded. We asked whether he accepted that the qualifications he offers are worthless and are not recognised.

He didn't accept these points and refused to comment further. It seems Mr August is a bit reluctant to discuss his many talents with us!

Andy Sherriff from Bournemouth Trading Standards, who prosecuted Philip August in 2004, joined X-Ray in studio to discuss our findings.

"Sadly I'm not shocked", he said. "I think it's probably inevitable. My belief is Mr August fully understands the law; he knows exactly what he did wrong last time and I fully believe he understands how he can get around the law.

"If he issues just diplomas and certificates, they're not covered by the Education Reform Act, and on that he's on safe ground.

"But since the middle of last year the Consumer Protection Regulations do give Trading Standards a chance to look much more closely at any claims that are made.

"If people are at all concerned at the qualifications they have, take them to their local Trading Standards department and ask them to look critically at what they've got.

"From our research, there are other businesses, other institutions that are doing just the same as Mr August. They also will be issuing qualifications that will turn out to be worthless pieces of paper, despite the huge amount of work that people will have put in to gain them."

So are there any particular types of courses that we should be wary of?

"People should be very conscious that if they are going for something like a degree, or a doctorate, those can only be awarded by UK Universities, and that those are governed and controlled by law, and accredited," Andy explained.

"Try and find out about the business you're going to deal with - is it really a university?

"If you get the chance to go there, see whether it's a proper leafy campus, or an office block or a room above a chip shop.

"Check on the internet to see if there are happy and satisfied students who've been there - people who can recommend it, or people who can point out that it's a scam. Either just a little bit of time beforehand will pay you great dividends."