Essay cheating at UK universities persists despite 2022 law, BBC investigation finds
BBC reveals ongoing use of essay-writing services, international students disproportionately affected, and debates over AI-detection and assessment methods
A BBC investigation has found that essay cheating remains widespread at UK universities despite a 2022 law designed to curb it. The legislation makes it illegal to provide, arrange or advertise cheating services for financial gain to students in England’s post-16 education, but there have been no prosecutions to date. The BBC spoke to a former lecturer who described cheating as an open secret and to a businessman who says he has earned millions from selling model answers to university students.
Barclay Littlewood, a Huddersfield-born entrepreneur now based in Dubai, says he built a global network of writers and that his business can price work from around 200 pounds for standard essays to tens of thousands for doctoral-level orders. He described his products as model answers for students to work from and said he has developed an artificial intelligence system that can generate a university‑level, guaranteed‑grade essay in minutes. To test the claim, the BBC enlisted Steve Foster, a former lecturer who taught English language at the University of Lincoln’s International Study Centre and later at the university’s business school, to mark an essay produced by Littlewood’s tool. Foster judged the piece to be of 2:1 quality and free of obvious errors, noting a lack of what he called the “human touch.” He left the sector in 2024, telling the BBC that cheating had become so entrenched that it was difficult to continue teaching under such conditions.
Alia, a named-up-for-identity overseas student now no longer studying at Lincoln, described her experience as part of a cohort of about 20 international classmates who faced long essays and language barriers. She said many turned to essay-writing services found online, which charged roughly £20 for 1,000 words. Although she was determined to complete her own work, she said peers taunted her for trying and implored her to pay someone else. By the second module, she claimed, about a third of her cohort stopped attending classes, with some simply submitting attendance and leaving.
It is not illegal to cheat at the university level, but since 2022 it has been a criminal offence to provide, arrange or advertise cheating services for financial gain to students taking a qualification at any post-16 educational institution in England. The BBC found dozens of examples of companies continuing to advertise essay-writing services through their own websites and on social media. Yet the Crown Prosecution Service and the Department for Education told the BBC they had no recorded offences reaching a first hearing in a magistrate’s court under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act.
Universities UK, which represents 141 institutions, said high penalties apply to students caught submitting work that is not their own and that enforcement relies on internal misconduct processes. The Home Office also sets the English language requirements tied to student visas. Turnitin and other plagiarism-detection tools are widely used, but the landscape is shifting as generative AI becomes more capable.
The BBC’s review of responses to Freedom of Information requests to 53 higher education institutions found that 48 said international students were disproportionately represented in academic misconduct investigations. The University of Lincoln stood out in the sample: 78% of its 387 investigations involved non-UK students, a group that represents about 22% of the campus population. A Lincoln spokesperson described academic misconduct as a sector‑wide challenge and said investigations were carried out through established processes with appropriate responses where misconduct was confirmed. The university’s stance reflects a broader concern that the problem cuts across national and linguistic lines and is not limited to a single institution.
Turnitin’s Annie Chechitelli said the rise of AI has heightened the need for robust detection and deterrence. In more than one in 10 papers reviewed since 2023, Turnitin said AI-generated material accounted for at least 20% of the content. The company notes that essay mills remain popular because some services continue to evade AI-detection systems, creating a continuing integrity challenge for educators and administrators. Eve Alcock, director of public affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, described essay mills as a threat to academic integrity across the UK and urged universities to consider assessment formats that emphasize authentic, student-driven work rather than traditional essay tasks.
Alia, who has since completed her course, said she felt disillusioned by the experience. She described a sense of accomplishment in learning, but questioned how employers would view a degree earned amid such practices and whether the credential would reveal any difference between her work and someone who paid for high-quality essays. "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. "When the grades were released, for most of the modules they got better grades and were laughing at me. I am not proud of this degree anymore."
