Varsity Education, a firm which charges £2,500–£3,500 for two-week courses at either an Oxford or Cambridge college, advertised academics’ involvement without their consent or knowledge, according to Oxford student newspaper Cherwell.

The company, which organises summer and winter schools in Cambridge for 15- to 18-year-old students, claims that it “provide[s] […] students with tailored guidance on successfully applying to leading UK universities”, staffed by a “teaching faculty uniquely comprises of [sic] current Oxbridge Fellows”. Its website claims that Varsity Education has “helped students from all over the world reach their full potential by providing them with a challenging and stimulating environment in which to flourish.”

However, according to Cherwell, Oxbridge academics who were listed as having “delivered key seminars to our students and had overall responsibility for the design of the course” had limited knowledge of the extent to which their involvement was advertised on the website.

Dr Lisa Walker, a Medical Sciences supervisor at Balliol College, Oxford, told Cherwell: “I think the question here actually revolved around what the ‘Academic Heads’ of the subjects actually know about the organisation.

“In my case, nothing. I had very little notice – I was asked to fill in as someone had apparently dropped out and they needed someone urgently.” Dr Walker added that she was “surprised to find my photo and blog on this website”. She added that “[w]hat they have on there is not inaccurate – they have lifted it straight from the Balliol website.”

Dr Sally Bayley, an English supervisor at Balliol and St Hugh’s, claimed that she “only taught for the Access part of the course, in the final part of the course, in the final week”, at which she “spoke to kids from all over the country who had been given sponsored places”, despite being listed as an “Academic Head of English”.

Cambridge academics involved with Varsity Education include Dr Harald Wydra, a Politics lecturer at St Catharine’s College. Peterhouse’s Director of Development, Saskia Murk Jansen, told Varsity that “Peterhouse is proud of its widening participation activities, and this commercial booking does not impact or work in any way with or against the widening participation activities of the college.”