Lakshmi Balakrishnan, from Tamil Nadu in southern India, has two masters degrees and says she spent an “exorbitant sum” of £100,000 to study and live at the world-leading university.

The student told the BBC she was “forcibly transferred” to a master’s course without her consent by the University of Oxford.

Ms Balakrishnan’s thesis idea was rejected in the fourth year, despite being accepted at the application stage and in her first year.

The University of Oxford said in a statement to the BBC that progress must “sufficiently demonstrate a strong likelihood of successful completion of a doctoral thesis”, but “not all students achieve this”.

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The student has since set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help her “seek justice” for the rejection, which has sparked a large debate online. 

“My Oxford dream turned into a nightmare when my examiners failed my internal assessment known as the ‘Confirmation of Status’ – not due to any shortcoming on my part, but because Shakespeare apparently does not have ‘scope’ for doctoral-level studies,” she wrote on the fundraising page. 

Ms Balakrishnan told the BBC she had made “immense sacrifices” to come to Oxford.

She disputed the decision and has gone through the appeals process, which she described as a “complete sham” on her fundraising page.

The student said experts worldwide have “testified on record” that her PhD research is “ground-breaking”, “field-changing”, “bold, interesting and impressive”.

The Queen’s College, where Ms Balakrishnan studied, wrote to the university in support of the student and to express concern.

Ms Balakrishnan posted the letter on her social platform, saying she believed this to be a “public interest matter”.

I appreciate some of the questions raised by the public after @BBCNews piece. Since I believe this is a public interest matter, I have decided to share the supporting statement of @QueensCollegeOx for the appeals process. I hope this answers some of the questions. pic.twitter.com/OyIna1zJmg

— Lakshmi Balakrishnan (@lakshmipriyab07) October 24, 2024

The college said four scholars qualified to act as doctoral examiners had provided testimonials that deem Ms Balakrishnan’s work “to be of doctoral quality”.

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It also questioned the process in which Ms Balakrishnan was transferred to a Masters course on November 17, 2021. 

In a statement to the BBC, the University of Oxford said: “To achieve Confirmation of Status, progress must sufficiently demonstrate a strong likelihood of successful completion of a doctoral thesis. Unfortunately, not all students achieve this.”

“Where a student disagrees with the outcome of an assessment they have the right to appeal under the university’s appeal procedure, which ensures fairness and transparency.

“There is a further internal route of appeal of that decision and a subsequent right to complain to the OIA.”

We have contacted Ms Balakrishnan for comment.