UK experts are concerned over 'contract cheating' claims or selling assignments for a fee, where Indian students who allegedly have experience of studying at British Universities are returning home and offering essays and assignments to current students online for a price.
Hindustan Times reported that Thomas Lancaster and Robert Clark at Birmingham City University had first reported about it in 2008. They now claim it has become more sophisticated over the years, making it impossible to detect through usual plagiarism detection software.
Lancaster, who is now based at Imperial College London, shared a recent research that showed a “lot of UK students” continuing to use Indian writers to complete essays and assignments for a fee delivered online. More than 100 websites and internet forums are offering assignments to students will soon be blocked on campus computers and wi-fi systems. The prices quoted by such websites depend on the level of assignments and deadlines. The price can range from a couple of hundred pounds for one essay to as much as £6,750 for a PhD dissertation, written by many claiming to have MBAs and even PhDs themselves.
Lancaster reportedly said, “We’re also seeing people come to the UK to study at a particular university. They then gain knowledge of that university and contacts in the UK, then go back to India to set up a writing business specialising in the university where they studied.”
The newspaper further reported that according to the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), an independent body tasked with safeguarding standards and improving the quality of higher education, “advertising activity of essay mills has increased in recent years”.
