This year, 20 October marks the 6th annual International Day of Action against Contract Cheating. Contract cheating is when students pay other people to complete assessments for them.
SUSU is joining the stand against all forms of contract cheating and will be leading a campaign that addresses both the potential consequences from, and common causes of, contract cheating.
In addition to a range of safe, in-person, activities to support students in maintaining academic standards throughout their journey, students will be able to engage with interactive stalls (staffed by members of the Representation & Advice teams), a buoyant social media campaign and direct messages from SUSU’s Sabbatical Officers.
With the disruptions of COVID-19, essay mill, impersonation and contract cheating companies across the world have increased their advertising, seeking to prey on students who continue to feel vulnerable during a prolonged period of uncertainty. Despite what they say in their publicity, these companies are motivated by money, and often use highly unscrupulous methods.
The goal of our activities is to raise awareness of the many dangers of contract cheating, as well as the help and support students can access if they are struggling. These messages will be delivered through engaging with students via our interactive stalls (staffed by members of the Representation & Advice teams), posting on SUSU’s social media channels on the day, as well as Sabbatical Officers directly messaging their peers.
Valuable support for dealing with the temptations of contract cheating is also available for students. There are the Tips for Good Academic Practice, and the Library’s Academic Skills pages have advice on avoiding such problems.
You can pick up relevant information on social media by searching the #defeatthecheat, #academicintegrity, #BetterByU and #contractcheating hashtags. For more information on the day of action globally see the International Centre for Academic Integrity’s dedicated webpage.
To learn more about contract cheating, you can view the Panopto video here: An Introduction to Contract Cheating and there is more guidance in the University’s Academic Integrity Toolkit. You may also want to access the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s recently revised publication Contracting to Cheat in Higher Education
The University has recently introduced Turnitin Authorship, which incorporates a Contract Cheating Dashboard that can help to identify when a student has submitted work that was not written by them.
If you see publicity for contract cheating companies, please report this via: [email protected].
Contact person: Sara Dixon, QSAT, [email protected]
