Students are being allowed to play mobile phone game Pokemon Go as part of their degree course.

Salford University says the game, in which players seek out virtual animated characters in real-world locations, will make its business information technology course more ‘accessible’.

But critics claim the move is indicative of the dumbing down of degrees – a charge Salford lecturer David Kreps denies.

Students are being allowed to play mobile phone game Pokemon Go as part of their degree course (File photo)

He said: ‘We want new students to feel that our subject is accessible and easy to grasp.

'Pokemon Go fits perfectly with that.

'It uses various information systems that are accessed over the internet, a digital camera and a GPS location sensor.

'While we will be asking students to play Pokemon Go, it will get a little more complicated.’

But Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said the idea was ‘farcical’ and that it encouraged students to rack up huge debts on courses that opened up few job prospects.