Indian student who spent over ₹ 1 crore ‘forcibly removed’ by Oxford University

A Tamil Nadu student who spent over ₹ 1 crore to get a PhD in English from Oxford University was "forcibly removed" from the PhD program and transferred to a master's course in her fourth year without her consent.

The assessors at the university told Lakshmi Balakrishnan that her Shakespeare research was not a PhD level work, thus failing her in her fourth year.

"They forcibly removed me from the PhD program and moved me to a masters level course without my consent," Balakrishnan, was quoted as saying.

“I already have two master's degrees from India and I paid £100,000 (₹ 1,09,00,610) at Oxford to get my PhD, not another masters course,” she said.

Two professors specializing in Shakespeare noted that her research holds significant potential and deserves consideration for a PhD. However, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) upheld the university's position on the matter, according to a media report.

The university in a statement recently said, “To achieve Confirmation of Status, progress must sufficiently demonstrate a strong likelihood of successful completion of a doctoral thesis. Unfortunately, not all students achieve this.”

“Where a student disagrees with the outcome of an assessment they have the right to appeal under the university’s appeal procedure, which ensures fairness and transparency. There is a further internal route of appeal of that decision and a subsequent right to complain to the OIA," it added.

But Balakrishnan feels betrayed, "I feel a sense of betrayal and I feel like I have been let down by an institution that I held in high regard," she said.

Disputing the university's decision, she decided to take a legal recourse but it remained unsuccessful.