Cheating in academic essays has become an 'open secret' at UK universities, despite a new law aiming to curb this practice. This issue is a hot topic, and it's time to delve into the controversial world of essay cheating and its implications.
Uncovering the Truth: Essay Cheating at UK Universities
A recent BBC investigation has shed light on the widespread nature of essay cheating, even after the introduction of a law specifically targeting this issue. Since April 2022, providing essays to students in post-16 education in England has been illegal, yet there have been no recorded prosecutions so far.
The BBC spoke to a former lecturer who described essay cheating as an open secret, and a businessman who claimed to have made millions by selling 'model answer' essays to university students. This raises the question: how prevalent is this issue, and what are the consequences?
Universities UK, representing 141 institutions, emphasized the severe penalties for students caught submitting work that is not their own. However, an international student, Alia, shared her experience, revealing the challenges faced by many overseas students. Alia and her classmates struggled with writing long essays, and many disengaged from the course. She attributed this to a lack of English language proficiency and a general lack of interest in the lessons.
Alia further revealed that many students turned to essay-writing companies, easily accessible online, charging around £20 for 1,000 words. She faced peer pressure and was even ridiculed for choosing to do her own work. By the second module, approximately a third of her cohort was missing every class, with some students merely submitting their presence and leaving.
Here's where it gets controversial: while it is not illegal to cheat at university, providing, arranging, or advertising cheating services for financial gain to post-16 students has been a criminal offense since 2022. Yet, the BBC found numerous examples of companies continuing to advertise their essay-writing services to UK students, both on their websites and social media platforms.
Despite the law, neither the Crown Prosecution Service nor the Department for Education, who have the power to prosecute, have recorded any offenses reaching a first hearing in a magistrate's court under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the law and the challenges in enforcing it.
Barclay Littlewood, a businessman based in Dubai, claimed to have made millions from the essay-writing industry. He started writing essays for others while working as a barrister in 2003, and his company now boasts a global network of 3,000 freelance writers, including lecturers, covering various topics. Littlewood's prices range from £200 to £20,000 for larger orders.
When confronted by the BBC, Littlewood denied breaking English law, claiming his essays were 'model answers' for students to base their work on. He even developed his own artificial intelligence, drawing on hundreds of thousands of essays written by his company, promising customers a university-level, 'guaranteed grade' essay in minutes.
The BBC arranged for a former lecturer, Steve Foster, to mark an essay generated through Littlewood's tool, claiming it to be of a 2:1 degree-grade standard. Foster, who taught English language for eight years and then lectured at the University of Lincoln's business school for four years, could tell the essay was not written by a student due to the lack of a 'human touch.' However, he acknowledged that it met the 2:1 standard and had 'no mistakes whatsoever.'
Foster believed that the scale of essay cheating was an 'open secret' and one of the reasons he left the sector in 2024. He recalled an incident where he saw a receipt from an essay-writing service fall out of a paper as his colleague marked it. Foster believed cheating was more prevalent among international students due to their English language skills.
He described a scenario where an overseas student scored 2% in an exam and 99% in an essay, highlighting the clear signs of cheating. Foster claimed many teachers turned a blind eye, allowing the problem to escalate. He questioned the implications, asking, 'Would you want to travel over a bridge designed by one of these students? Would you trust this accountant with your business's operations?'
In response, Universities UK stated that the Home Office sets the English language requirements as part of student visa conditions. They added that all universities have codes of conduct with severe penalties for students submitting work that is not their own.
The reliance on higher fees from international students has increased in recent years, as tuition fees from UK students have not kept up with inflation. A report earlier this year warned that more than four in ten universities would soon face financial difficulties, largely due to a drop in international student numbers. In the most recent year of data (2023-24), non-UK students made up 25% of the total student population, with 730,000 enrolled at UK universities.
The BBC's Freedom of Information requests to UK universities revealed that international students were disproportionately represented in academic misconduct investigations. Of the 53 higher education institutions that provided usable responses, 48 reported this trend. Penalties for cheating can range from warnings and zero marks to suspension or exclusion.
Universities UK declined to comment on the reasons for this high proportion, but one university suggested that many misconduct cases were about poor practice, such as bad referencing, rather than intentional misconduct. The University of Lincoln was an extreme example, with 78% of 387 investigations involving non-UK students, who only make up 22% of the institution's student population.
A university spokesperson acknowledged academic misconduct as a sector-wide challenge, stating that alleged breaches are thoroughly investigated and addressed through established processes, with appropriate responses for confirmed misconduct.
Higher education institutions use programs like Turnitin to detect plagiarism and false authorship. Annie Chechitelli, chief product officer at Turnitin, emphasized the critical need for detection and deterrence with the rise of AI. Turnitin's detection tool found that AI wrote at least 20% of the material in more than one in ten papers reviewed since 2023.
Eve Alcock, director of public affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, highlighted that essay mills remain a threat to academic integrity across the UK. She encouraged universities to consider moving away from essay-based assessments in response to the rise of generative AI tools, allowing for more 'authentic' assessments.
Alia, who has completed her course, expressed disillusionment with her experience. She questioned how employers would differentiate between her and those who cheated, especially when the grades were released, and her peers laughed at her for not cheating. She concluded, 'I am not proud of this degree anymore.'
This issue raises important questions about academic integrity, the role of technology, and the future of education. What are your thoughts on essay cheating and its implications? Share your opinions in the comments below!
