A Dublin college that charges €18,000 for its online degree programmes has been refused recognition by education authorities in Ireland.

The Higher Education and Training Awards Council (Hetac) said last week that Warnborough had failed to agree quality-assurance procedures, which is the preliminary step in an accreditation process.

Julian Ng, vice-president of Warnborough Ireland, said: “The matter is the subject of an appeal at the moment. We would like to respect the protocol of the appeal process. That’s all we have to say.”

But Tadhg O hEalaithe, secretary of Hetac, said there was no appeals process as such. “The panel looked at the application, and it was not successful,” said O hEalaithe, who confirmed that the college had written to Hetac seeking further information.

“Hetac has a strong reputation internationally, and we need to protect that,” he said. “We have to make sure students don’t get stung and that qualifications on offer are recognised. Most institutions will make the changes we ask of them, but it’s a different game dealing with online providers.”

Warnborough has been renting two offices at All Hallows college in Drumcondra for the last two years but its lease expires at the end of next month. Carolanne Henry, marketing manager at All Hallows, said it was “ending all relations with Warnborough”.

All Hallows asked Warnborough to remove pictures of their buildings from the online college’s website last year. Henry said: “It was drawn to our attention that they were presenting pictures in a misleading way. They removed them when asked.”

Warnborough left its UK base on the grounds of Oxford university in 1996 following the threat of legal action by American students who enrolled for its course believing it to be part of the Oxford campus.

The following year it registered as an Irish company, Warnborough University Ltd, with an address in Cork. The word “university” was removed in 2005, because it contravened the Universities Act, 1997. Warnborough moved to rooms above a pub in Bray, and was then a tenant at All Hallows. The college did not respond to queries last week over where it will locate in September.

The college would not divulge how many, if any, Irish students are currently enrolled. “It is not our policy to reveal student statistics,” it said.

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