Exam malpractices: 31m students in contract cheating – Survey

A study carried out by Swansea University in the United Kingdom has shown that 31 million students, all over the world, engage in contract cheating.
The research further stated that there was a continuous increase in a situation whereby students, all over the world, were paying mercenaries to write examinations for them.
The researcher, Phil Newton said: “One in seven recent graduates may contract out their assignment.
These findings underscore the need for legislation to tackle essay-mills, alongside improvements in the way students are assessed and awareness raising of the fundamentals of academic integrity.
“We need to utilise assessment methods that promote learning and at the same time reduce the likelihood that contract cheating can happen”.
The study, published in Frontiers in Education, analysed 71 survey samples from 65 studies dating back as far as 1978, covering 54,514 participants.
It further showed contract cheating was self-reported by a historic average of 3.5 per cent of students, but this was shown to be increasing significantly over time.
“In studies from 2014 to present, the percentage of students admitting to paying someone else to undertake their work was 15.7 per cent”, it stated.
Commenting on the date, Newton said his finding was likely to underestimate levels of contract cheating among students, adding that students who engage in it were less likely to volunteer to participate in surveys about cheating.

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