Statement: Coping with external fraudulent OSSD documents during the university application process
Dear partner school administrators, teachers, students, and parents:
Today, we would like to share with you how we are coping with externally created fraudulent OSSD documents that have been provided to universities during the university application process, including discussion of issues that have come up this academic year, and the solutions we are taking at Rosedale Academy to ensure student success and global mobility for our learners. We recognize the last few years have deeply impacted the global education sector and opportunities for global mobility, and just as in many other industries, fraud has become an increasing concern.
Rosedale Academy continues to be well-recognized by leading global universities in both academic innovation and quality assurance. Our learners are accepted at universities worldwide and continue to be sought-after by universities in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the USA—among others. As the leading Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) practitioner in a global context, we proactively collaborate with leading universities to fight against OSSD fraud, and to protect integrity in the university application process, while supporting a smooth admissions process for Rosedale Academy’s graduating students.
This application year, of our graduating class of 850 students, we have received over 3,500 offers worldwide. Additionally, the total number of scholarships totalled to over $2.9 million CAD.
In June, three top universities in Australia, The University of Queensland, The University of Melbourne and The University of Sydney were made aware of fraudulent activity around the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), including fraudulent use of OSSD School name and fraudulent OSSD student identity. As the announcement of The University of Queensland, “we will continue to process applications, assess and issue offers, process acceptance and issue CoEs. We will, however, conduct back-to-source checks at the same time to verify all OSSD transcripts and qualifications. Students will only be allowed to enrol once we verify their transcripts and qualifications with the issuing schools.”
Rosedale is proactively collaborating with universities to manage this process for applications from Rosedale Academy students. To date, we have verified more than 800 applicant documents and have identified 5 fraudulent documents, all originated outside of Rosedale Academy and our partner schools. The five fraudulent cases involves illegal use of Rosedale Academy name and fraudulent student identities not exist in our school. To this end, we would like to share that:
- The Ontario Ministry of Education and other appropriate entities have been notified of the fraudulent use of our name and will investigate further;
- We continue to work collaboratively with international university admissions officers, qualifications and credential teams, and international compliance officers to verify student transcripts and diploma statuses. Through this comprehensive process, we review and verify the transcripts and diplomas for each student applicant with each university, and pending the needs of a university, will also provide individual verification documents for each student application; and,
- Rosedale has provided training materials to universities on how they can better identify fraudulent diplomas and transcripts that bear the Rosedale Academy name, and on distinguishing them from our legitimate graduate diplomas and transcripts.
We are pleased to confirm that this situation will not affect how universities process Rosedale Academy applicants who are taking, or have completed, the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. We are confident our student applications will continue to be well-regarded by leading universities in Australia, and globally. In the 2021-2022 school year, we received over 550 offers from Australian universities with an application success rate of 87%.
To combat the global increase in fraudulent OSSD documents, Rosedale has enhanced our approach for the 2022-2023 academic year in two ways:
The first, with a focus on external fraudulent activity, we will:
- Create an online verification portal for university admissions officers, allowing them to compete a self-verification for any Rosedale Academy applicant—from previous year’s graduates to current graduates;
- Proactively provide high-applicant volume universities with a list of students who have applied to their school; and,
- Continued collaboration with universities to streamline the application process and maintain trust and confidence in Rosedale graduates.
The second, with a focus on proactive support at the partner school level, we will:
- Ensure partner schools apply through Rosedale application portals when available (e.g., OUAC 101, Rosedale’s UCAS buzzword)—these systems are managed by Rosedale staff which make it simpler for universities to verify the legitimacy of student applications;
- Educate parents and students on the need to choose a legitimate and trustworthy agent for those who decide to use an agent to apply for universities; and,
- Designate a staff member as a key contact for any issues that arise with fraudulent documents so Rosedale can be notified immediately and begin the reporting process of any fraudulent documents to both the Ontario Ministry of Education and university.
Integrity is a cornerstone of Rosedale’s academic delivery. As a leading practitioner in global high school education, we will continue our transparent and proactive collaboration with universities to protect the integrity of OSSD education, and create successful transition of our learners from high schools and higher education. As the landscape of modern, global education evolves, Rosedale recognizes the importance of ensuring the OSSD granted through Rosedale Academy is held in the highest regard. We appreciate your ongoing trust in us to deliver transformative education and ensure our learners success.
Sincerely,The Principal’s OfficeRosedale Academy*
*As of September 1, 2022, Rosedale Academy’s name will change to: Rosedale Global High School; our brand update is currently underway across our public-facing platforms and with our partner school network.
