It is a tradition stretching as far back as the Middle Ages.

But now the convention of offering Oxford University students automatic Masters' degrees in return for the princely sum of £10 could be at an end.

The Government's Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), which monitors standards at British universities, is to clamp down on unearned qualifications.

Today it will order that both Oxford and Cambridge stop the practice in an effort to ensure that degrees are only given for proper achievement. The move has come in response to concerns that Oxbridge graduates - Cambridge operates the system - are misleading employers by using the letters MA after their names on job applications - even though they have done nothing to deserve them.

At Oxford, the Master of Arts is awarded automatically to students seven years after they start their studies.

It is simply dependant on completing a Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree and paying a £10 administration fee. Oxford University has vowed to defend the practice, which started hundreds of years ago when students studied for seven years instead of three.

A University spokesman said: "The MA is part of our heritage and most people are aware that it is different to MAs awarded elsewhere.

"There is certainly no attempt on the part of the University or its students to try to hoodwink people."

But the QAA wants to see the degrees renamed to make it clear to employers they have not been studied for. The proposals will be set out in a new National Qualifications Framework which aims to standardise qualifications across all British universities.

The document reads: "The NQF is designed to make sure that no-one will get a qualification unless they have demonstrated achievement at a high enough level.

"This will make it easier for potential students and employers to understand the qualifications."

John Randall, QAA chief executive, added: "Qualification titles should mean what they say.

"The public is entitled to know that similar titles represent similar levels of achievement." An Oxford University spokesman said there was no question of confusing an Oxford MA with other MAs because the University does not offer MA courses and graduates used the title MA (Oxon) rather than just MA.

Anneliese Dodds, president of Oxford University Student Union, said: "I cannot comment. We do not have a policy on this."

*The Oxford Union will stage a debate at the London Motor Show on Wednesday - the first time a debate has been held outside Oxford in its 176-year history.

Story date: Monday 18 October

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