Two university administrators have appeared in a United Arab Emirates court accused of accepting bribes to change English language test scores.

The pair, a Russian and a Lebanese, are alleged to have accepted kickbacks totalling Dh184,500 (?32,000) from students at the American University in Dubai, .

In return, Dubai Criminal Court heard, they changed the learners¡¯ results from fail to pass on two sets of English language exams. These were the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), run by Princeton-based Educational Testing Service, and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), owned by a consortium which includes the British Council.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty, .

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The pair worked in the university¡¯s admissions office and were responsible for processing the English exam documents, which are a prerequisite for university entry.

Approximately 20 students are alleged to have paid bribes to have their test results tampered with between December 2011 and January 2014.

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Some of the students have since been expelled, the court heard.

Times Higher Education has contacted the?American University in Dubai for comment. The case continues.