UK varsities to block Indian sites offering ‘contract cheating’

CONTRACT CHEATING HAPPENS WHEN A THIRD PARTY COMPLETES ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENTS WHO THEN SUBMIT IT AS THEIRS

LONDON: Over 100 websites and internet forums offering assignments to university students in Britain for a fee — many based in India — are to be blocked on campus computers and Wifi systems to prevent “contract cheating” — selling assignments for a fee.

Academics told Hindustan Times that thousands of students at British universities have been using Indian expertise in IT as part of “contract cheating”, whereby course assignments are contracted online for a fee, endangering the quality of degrees awarded.

The phenomenon – first reported in academic circles in 2008 by Thomas Lancaster and Robert Clarke at Birmingham City University – has become more sophisticated over the years, making it difficult to detect through usual plagiarism detection software.

“Contract cheating” happens when a third party completes work for a student who then submits it to an education provider as their own, where such input is not permitted. A student contracts the third party to provide the assessment, usually a com- pany or individual using a website to promote themselves .

Such companies have become known as “essay mills”, even though they supply more than just essays, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), an independent body tasked with safeguarding standards and improving t he quality of higher education, said.

New guidance to be published on Monday by the QAA says the “advertising activity of essay mills has increased in recent years”.

Lancaster, now at Staffordshire University, told HT: “We’ve observed a lot of people from India bidding to complete academic work for students. They make offers that are very appealing to students from the UK, they’ll do the assignment for what is a low price for a UK student, but a good living wage for the worker in India.”