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22nd January 2008

University of York Cracks Down on Cheaters

The University of York has announced tighter controls to clamp down on the number of students cheating in essays.

The university believes that some students are paying other people to write essays on their behalf. UKEssays.com, a website that specialises in the provision of essays to students, recently revealed that 142 students from the University of York purchased essays from them last year. Of the essays purchased, many were tailor-made and had cost the student between £200 and £1,000.

A spokesperson outlining the university’s new, tougher stance on cheating via paid-for essays said: "Any student submitting all or part of an essay purchased from, or edited by, an outside organisation would be committing serious academic misconduct, and could be subject to penalties including the loss of marks from the final degree, failing the degree outright or being sent down from the university. The university takes academic misconduct very seriously and is increasingly using automated plagiarism detection as well as traditional methods to detect it."

Websites like UKEssays.com allow students to provide an essay title and have a bespoke paper written on their behalf by a graduate. Prices vary, with a 2:1 essay costing £60 per 500 words. Last-minute essays are also available and the site is able to offer a three-hour turnaround, which costs £1,500 for a 2,500-word essay. Prices are even higher for a first class undergraduate dissertation essay, which can cost as much as £4,000.

A UKEssays.com spokesperson welcomed the University of York’s approach towards paid-for esays. They said: "We see the fact that the University of York has such low plagiarism rates as fantastic. For us, this means that our customers… are using our service as it's meant to be used - honestly. We actively discourage plagiarism."

Although the University of York has announced these tougher measures on essay cheaters, it is still keen to stress that plagiarism is still rare among its students.

Source:

York Press