UCL backs tougher action against ’essay mills’

UCL has welcomed calls for tougher action against so-called 'essay mill' companies, which can charge students thousands of pounds, to write customised essays. A new petition to Parliament has warned that 'essay mills' undermine the high standards of universities and are unfair to honest students. It calls on the UK Government to follow the lead of the Irish and New Zealand governments in announcing a new law that would make it illegal to provide or advertise contract cheating services. An investigation by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) has found that hundreds of companies in the UK are producing work for students to pass off as their own and has estimated that around 17,000 students have been caught using these services. It has made a number of recommendations for providing more support for struggling students. UCL strictly forbids the use of ghost-writing agencies and anyone who makes use of these services is liable for an academic penalty. The university uses a sophisticated detection system (Turnitin ) to scan work for evidence of plagiarism.