A former college principal and awarding body chair who was recently appointed to the House of Lords has admitted incorrectly claiming that she had a PhD.
Dame Ann Limb, who has chaired City & Guilds since 2021, published a CV on her website stating that she had a “PhD University of Liverpool” and an MA in “applied linguistics” from the Institute of Linguists.
But the former Milton Keynes and Cambridge Regional College principal has now admitted this was incorrect after an investigation by the Sunday Times, telling the paper that she started but “never” completed a PhD at the university.
The information about Limb’s 1970s PhD was published on her personal website in a CV that appears to have been uploaded in August 2020 and refers to her as “Dr”.
Her “Dr” title has repeatedly appeared in high-profile biographies, including the Cabinet Office’s Queen’s birthday honours 2022 list that awarded her a damehood, a 2021 City and Guilds’ announcement that she had been appointed the charity’s chair, and a recent University of Liverpool post celebrating her peerage.
Responding to the Sunday Times, Limb said: “Just to be completely upfront and honest about it, I never completed my PhD at Liverpool University.”
She added that she used the word “doctor” because she has several honorary doctorates, but admitted that her website is “perhaps not very helpful”.
The 72-year-old was nominated for a peerage by Sir Keir Starmer two weeks ago, becoming the first former further education college principal to be appointed to the House of Lords.
She will sit on the Labour benches and will take the title Baroness Limb of Moss Side in the city of Manchester and County of Lancashire.
Limb’s CV says she has been awarded seven honorary doctorates from universities since 2003.
Universities often offer honorary doctorates for recognition of personal, academic or professional achievement, but recipients tend not to use the title.
A new CV appears to have been uploaded to Limb’s website in July 2024 that removed the ‘Dr’ title and claim that she had achieved a PhD in 1978, three years after completing her bachelor’s degree.
However, it continues to claim that she was awarded an MA in “Applied Linguistics Final Diploma Institute of Linguists (Distinction)” in 1976.
The Institute of Linguists, now known as the Chartered Institute of Linguists, told the Sunday Times: “We have never awarded MAs.”
Limb’s website also refers to her career in further education beginning in 1976 “whilst she was undertaking her PhD at the University of Liverpool”.
She said: “I undertook a PhD at Liverpool University which I did not complete. I have been awarded several honorary PhDs and therefore used the title Dr prior to being awarded a Damehood.
“The postgraduate Maitrise des Lettres (MA) completed in France in the mid 1970’s was unrelated to membership of the Institute of Linguists for which I took and passed a separate exam.”
Limb has held a range of chair roles, including the Scouts, Lloyds Bank’s charitable arm, and King Charles’ King’s Foundation.
As chair of City & Guilds she co-wrote a piece for FE Week justifying the sale of the 150-year-old technical education awarding body to a Greek certification business to avoid it sliding “imperceptibly into irrelevance”.
Limb remains chair of the City & Guilds Foundation charity.
It’s okay she got what she wanted and the labour party will be delighted.
Us? we don’t count.
Of course her CV is made up ….how else could she now be a new Labour Party representative !
Such a shame that the career of someone who has done a lot for, and in FE is blighted by this. However it does bring to light the failure of human resources in the colleges where she worked not to have applied safer recruitment principles correctly by having asked to see original copies of certificates. Before becoming an inspector I had three jobs in colleges and was required to list all my qualifications on an application form, signed as being ‘true’ and show someone the original certificates to confirm their authenticity (from memory they were copied before being returned). Failure to do this would be seen as a weakness in safeguarding during inspection and could reflect on not meeting essential requirements for a job role. This was true in FEFC days and remains so today, applying to every member of staff.
It was not just a mistake on her CV. She publicly claimed to have completed her PhD in talks. See, for example, this talk at the Open University, from 1.22 – https://youtu.be/RzK7Molf99Q?si=oTuVrrU213quqSWB
Great spot. This should be publicised far and wide. It’s a total disgrace and an insult to anyone who has slogged to genuinely earn a degree (especially a PhD)
This is exactly why robust due diligence matters, not just for accuracy, but for trust.
When senior figures are publicly presented with qualifications they did not hold, it inevitably raises difficult questions:
1. Did this contribute to accelerated career progression or access to roles that others, without such claims, were denied?
2. Did it indirectly disadvantage equally capable candidates who were competing transparently?
3. And when concerns were known or suspected, were they properly challenged, or quietly set aside?
These are not accusations, they are the avoidable questions that arise when verification processes fail.
Strong governance protects individuals as much as institutions. Proper checks at the point of appointment prevent speculation later and ensure that confidence in leadership is based on merit, transparency, and evidence, not retrospective clarification.
Due diligence isn’t about blame. It’s about preventing situations where trust has to be rebuilt after the fact.
What a disgrace!
I am totally appalled by this. ‘Trust’ is a fundamental of being a trustee and as Chair of the King’s Foundation (and other charities) she should be totally ashamed and do the right thing. No discussion. As for the peerage, this shouldn’t and can’t proceed.
Ann Limb has selfishly ignored the Nolan Principles, showing her true colours. If she has an ounce of integrity, she knows what she has to do. This is unacceptable and totally disgraceful – she can learn a great deal from the many charity trustees who act with total integrity.
Totally agree with this comment. However faking her PhD and Masters sounds like she never has adhered to the Nolan principles or shown honesty and integrity (another requirement of the king’s foundation) and is just another being seen to do good simply to promote herself. I don’t expect her to give anything up, however let’s watch and see.
It would be helpful if Ann provided some level of explanation as I’m sure some of her appointments over the years were secured on and by her PHD.
I’ve never made a decision on appointments based solely on academic qualifications and I’m sure that her work over the years has improved many lives through education and training, but as a sector increasingly being accused on cronyism shouldn’t a champion of the sector like Ann do more to dispel this accusation instead of adding a bit more cement to its foundation?
The person specs for many senior roles in FE have postgraduate quals as ‘essential’ requirements. However, colleges should have asked candidates for original copies to stop false claims and ensure robust safer recruitment. It should be a fail on safeguarding from Ofsted if not done