Prior to partnering with Qualification Check, the Admissions team at Cranfield University carried out manual checks on all international applications. While they were aware of fraudulent activity, they weren’t always aware of the latest trends or the increasingly sophisticated methods fraudsters were using. They also didn’t know whether Cranfield itself was being actively targeted.
To strengthen their verification process, Cranfield started building its own directory of trusted sources for checking international qualifications. This involved spending significant time researching legitimate websites and verification resources for universities in key applicant markets, particularly Ghana, India and Nigeria, where application volumes were highest.
While this helped, it still didn’t provide the level of confidence the team needed. The process was time-consuming, difficult to maintain, and placed additional pressure on department resources. Cranfield wanted to remove uncertainty from enrolment decision-making and gain greater confidence when assessing UKVI sponsorship eligibility and issuing CAS statements.
Using QC’s Global Verification Applicant Model, Cranfield University now enables applicants to submit their own verification request through a secure, bespoke link to the QC platform.
The transition has required minimal applicant communications thanks to the clear guidance, user messaging and online tutorials provided by QC. Applicants can easily enter their personal and course details, upload their consent form and complete payment as part of the process.
Through a separate university dashboard, Cranfield has full visibility of verification requests as they progress, with real-time access to the results for each applicant.
By shifting the cost of verification to the applicant, the model has created a natural deterrent for non-genuine applicants while avoiding any additional impact on departmental budgets.
It lifts that burden from our team worrying about whether an application or document is genuine or not and it speeds up our processes. QC has been very helpful, and the timeframe of verifications, whether verified and not verified, has been very quick.
It lifts that burden from our team worrying about whether an application or document is genuine or not and it speeds up our processes. QC has been very helpful, and the timeframe of verifications, whether verified and not verified, has been very quick.
Since May 2025, Cranfield has saved significant time, money and resources by streamlining their international verifications through the QC platform. No longer reliant on their internal teams to verify with the naked eye, Cranfield now utilise our integrated database of over 55,000 institutions in 195 countries who we can verify graduates with directly.
Cranfield has praised the speedy and super-efficient onboarding at QC, which has been much smoother than other new digital systems they’ve implemented. Due to the fast and effective transition from induction to live verification activity, Cranfield won the ‘Lightning Launch Award’ at the inaugural QC Awards 2026.
Applicant comms regarding the updated application steps have been minimal due to the clear user messaging and online tutorials we provided Cranfield to share with their applicants on their wider channels.
“It lifts that burden from our team worrying about whether an application or document is genuine or not and it speeds up our processes. QC has been very helpful, and the timeframe of verifications, whether verified and not verified, has been very quick.”
– Andrea Edmond, Deputy Admissions Manager