Graduates from top universities 'above' CV lies

A new study has shown that graduates from the UK's top 20 universities are less likely to lie on their CVs.

The Powerchex survey found that 43% of applicants from the country's lowest-ranking universities have a major falsehood or exaggeration on their CV, compared to only 14% from the top institutions, Online Recruitment reports.

A connection was also revealed between the subjects students are taking and their propensity to lie on applications. Those on art and humanities degree courses had the highest rate of inconsistencies on their CV at 22%, while maths students had the lowest at 6%.

'What this survey says is that graduates from lesser-known universities may feel they need to alter their background to compete,' Powerchex Managing Director, Alexandra Kelly, commented.

A recent notorious case of this was Apprentice candidate Lee McQueen exaggerating his education credentials on his CV, after he failed to complete a catering course.