Essay cheating at universities an 'open secret'

Despite laws intended to stop it, essay cheating remains a widespread issue at UK universities, according to a BBC investigation.

Since April 2022, providing essays to students in post-16 education for payment has been illegal in England. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. no prosecutions have been made under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act.

The BBC spoke with a former lecturer who called essay cheating an "open secret." They also interviewed a businessman who claimed to have earned millions by selling "model answer" essays to university students.

Universities UK, representing 141 institutions, stated that students caught submitting work that isn't their own face "severe penalties."

Alia (a pseudonym) is an international student who described studying for a master's degree at a British university as a dream. Alia and her 20 international classmates struggled with the long essays required at the University of Lincoln. According to Alia, many students soon disengaged from their studies.

She said that the students lacked English language skills and didn't pay attention in class, preferring to talk or use their phones. Alia stated that many students used essay-writing companies, easily found online, which charged around £20 per 1,000 words.

Alia chose to do her own work but said some classmates mocked her, telling her she was wasting time and should simply pay someone to write her essays. By the second module, Alia claimed that approximately a third of her classmates skipped every class, with some only registering their presence before leaving.

While cheating isn't illegal for students, since 2022, providing or advertising cheating services for financial gain to students in post-16 education in England has been a criminal offense.

The BBC discovered numerous companies still advertising essay-writing services to UK students on their websites and social media. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. neither the Crown Prosecution Service nor the Department for Education reported any offences reaching a first hearing in a magistrate's court under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act.

Barclay Littlewood, based in Dubai but originally from Huddersfield, claims to have made millions from the essay-writing industry. Littlewood, a former barrister, began writing essays for others in 2003. His company claims to use a global network of 3,000 freelance writers, some of whom are lecturers, covering subjects like law, business, and sociology.

He said his prices start at £200, but larger orders for master's or doctorate-level essays can cost up to £20,000. Challenged by the BBC, Littlewood denied breaking English law, claiming his essays are "model answers" for students to use as a base for their own work.

Littlewood said he has developed AI using hundreds of thousands of essays written by his company. He claims this allows customers to receive a university-level, "guaranteed grade" essay in minutes.

The BBC asked Steve Foster, a former lecturer, to grade an essay generated by Littlewood's tool, claiming it was of a 2:1 degree standard. Foster taught English language at the International Study Centre, affiliated with the University of Lincoln, for eight years, and then lectured at the university's business school for four years.

Foster said he could tell the essay wasn't written by a student because it lacked a "human touch." That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. he said it was of a 2:1 standard and had no mistakes. The scale of essay cheating was an "open secret" and a reason he left the sector in 2024, Foster said. He recounted an incident where a receipt from an essay-writing service fell out of a paper while his colleague was marking it.

Foster believes cheating is more common among international students due to insufficient English language skills. He described one overseas student scoring 2% on an exam and 99% on an essay. "When you get that kind of disparity in the marks, it's clear the student has been cheating," he said. He also stated that teachers often "turned a blind eye" to cheating, allowing the problem to grow.

Universities UK stated that the Home Office sets the required English level for student visas. They added that all universities have codes of conduct with severe penalties for students who submit work that isn't their own.

Universities have become increasingly reliant on higher fees from international students as tuition fees from UK students haven't kept pace with inflation. A report earlier this year warned that over 40% of universities would soon face financial difficulties, primarily due to a drop in international student numbers.

In the 2023-24 academic year, 730,000 non-UK students were enrolled at UK universities, representing 25% of the total student population.

The BBC submitted Freedom of Information requests to all UK universities, asking about formal academic misconduct investigations into essay cheating in the academic year ending in summer 2024, and how many involved international students.

Of the 53 higher education institutions that provided usable responses, 48 reported that international students were disproportionately represented in academic misconduct investigations. Penalties for cheating range from warnings or zero marks to suspension or exclusion.

Universities UK declined to comment on the reasons for the high proportion of international students being investigated. One university suggested that many misconduct cases involved poor practice, such as bad referencing, rather than intentional cheating.

The University of Lincoln was one of the most extreme examples, with 78% of 387 investigations involving non-UK students, who make up only 22% of the student population. A spokesperson for the university said academic misconduct was a "sector-wide challenge." They added that alleged breaches are thoroughly investigated and addressed, with appropriate responses if misconduct is confirmed.

Higher education institutions use programs like Turnitin to detect plagiarism and false authorship. Annie Chechitelli, chief product officer at Turnitin, said that the rise of AI has made detection and deterrence "more critical than ever." Turnitin's detection tool found that AI wrote at least 20% of the material in over 10% of papers reviewed since 2023.

Turnitin said essay mills remain popular due to the growing demand for services that evade AI detection, preying on students' fears of being caught. Eve Alcock, director of public affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, said 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, to allow for more "authentic" assessments.

Alia, who has now finished her course, said she feels disillusioned by her experience. "I have learned a lot myself, and achieved a lot, but how is the employer going to see the difference between someone like me and these people?" she asked. She also stated that the students who cheated often received better grades and laughed at her. "I am not proud of this degree anymore," she said.