An Indian PhD student from Tamil Nadu has claimed that she was "forcibly transferred" to a masters course without her consent by the University of Oxford. Lakshmi Balakrishnan already has two masters degrees and spent nearly £100,000 (about Rs 1 crore) to study and live at the world-leading university.
According to a BBC report, Lakshmi said the university's English faculty had "not acted in good faith" after her thesis idea was accepted at the application stage, and in her first year, but was later rejected in the fourth year. Two different assessors from the English faculty failed her after an assessment, saying her Shakespeare research did not have scope for PhD level.
She has disputed the faculty’s decision and has taken them through an appeals process, but has been unsuccessful.
"They forcibly removed me from the PhD programme and moved me to a masters level course without my consent," she told the publication. "I feel a sense of betrayal and I feel like I have been let down by an institution that I held in high regard. I already have two masters degrees from India and I paid £100,000 at Oxford to get my PhD, not another masters course."
The University of Oxford said all students were made aware that a "successful outcome would depend on their academic progress". In a statement to the publication, it confirmed the appeals process has concluded.
"I am the first person in my family to come abroad for studies and I hail from an underprivileged background, I made immense sacrifices to come and study at Oxford," Lakshmi said. "I believe that the university’s strategy is to force me to wade through endless appeals and complaints procedures in the hope that I will eventually give up and go."
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