Essay cheating at universities remains an 'open secret,' BBC finds

A BBC investigation has found that essay cheating remains widespread at UK universities despite the 2022 extension of a criminal offence to post-16 education in England. Since April 2022, it has been illegal to provide essays for students in post-16 education, but prosecutors have yet to bring a case in a magistrates’ court, according to government and policing sources cited by the BBC. The investigation describes the practice as an “open secret” in some academic circles and details how a market for model essays continues to operate online and via social media.

Alia, a pseudonym used by a non-British student who completed a master’s course at the University of Lincoln, said that many international classmates faced significant language barriers and struggled to complete long essays. She recalled classmates who stopped engaging with classes and, in some cases, paid for essay services because they felt overwhelmed. “It was both their lack of knowledge in English language and the fact that they did not care for the lesson and were talking to each other or playing on their phones,” she said. Alia said that many students turned to online essay-writing companies charging about £20 for 1,000 words. She described how by the second module, about a third of her cohort missed every class and some would simply stand behind the door, submit their attendance, and leave. “I am not proud of this degree anymore,” she added after finishing her course. Some colleagues allegedly urged others to pay, saying: “You are losing sleep, missing your meals and getting so tired – just pay someone.”

The 2022 legislation makes it illegal to provide, arrange or advertise cheating services for financial gain to students pursuing qualifications at any post-16 educational institution in England. Yet the BBC found dozens of advertisements for essay-writing services and a testimony from a businessman who claims to have made millions supplying model answers. Universities UK, which represents 141 institutions, said there are “severe penalties” for students caught submitting work that is not their own. Still, the enforcement picture remains incomplete: the Crown Prosecution Service and the Department for Education told the BBC they had no recorded offences reaching a first hearing under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act.

Universities have long warned that high reliance on international students for revenue leaves research and teaching budgets vulnerable. In the most recent data year, 2023-24, there were about 730,000 non-UK students enrolled at UK universities, accounting for roughly a quarter of the total student population. The BBC’s Freedom of Information requests to 53 institutions found that 48 reported international students were disproportionately represented in academic misconduct investigations. The University of Lincoln, cited in the investigation, said it had 387 misconduct investigations in the year, with 78% involving non-UK students, who constitute about 22% of the student body. The university described academic misconduct as a “sector-wide challenge,” adding that alleged breaches were “thoroughly investigated and addressed through our established processes.”

To detect cheating and false authorship, many universities rely on software such as Turnitin. Annie Chechitelli, Turnitin’s chief product officer, told the BBC that AI-generated writing has made detection and deterrence more critical. Turnitin’s data show that in more than one in ten papers reviewed since 2023, the tool found AI had written at least 20% of the material. The company noted that essay mills remain popular in part because some services advertise ways to evade AI-detection tools, appealing to students under pressure to perform.

Eve Alcock, the director of public affairs at the Quality Assurance Agency, said essay mills remain a threat to academic integrity across the UK. She urged universities to consider moving away from traditional essay-based assessments in favor of more authentic tasks and varied evaluation methods to better reflect students’ skills and learning, especially in the era of generative AI.

Alia, now finished with her course, said the experience left her disillusioned. “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.” She added: “I am not proud of this degree anymore.”

The BBC’s investigation highlights a tension at the heart of UK higher education: universities increasingly rely on international enrolment for revenue while grappling with complex academic integrity challenges. The professor whose name is withheld in the documentary said that cheating was so widespread that some colleagues had turned a blind eye, a situation he described as having allowed the problem to “snowball.” He left the sector in 2024 partly because of concerns about cheating, he said.

As policymakers and university leaders weigh responses, some observers argue that the best long-term fix may lie in changing how assessments are designed—emphasizing demonstration of learning and competencies over lengthy essays. Still, the BBC’s investigation makes clear that the current landscape remains deeply contested, with students, educators, and institutions navigating an environment in which the incentives for cheating and the enforcement tools to deter it coexist with uneven results.

For readers seeking ongoing updates, the BBC has indicated that related reporting will continue to examine how universities adapt to evolving technologies and student demographics, and how the legal framework is applied in practice across the sector.