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The number of suspected cheating cases at Oxford University rose from 26 in March to 55 in October 2019. The figures showed that 36 students had been investigated for plagiarism during assessments this year and 19 were suspected of collusion in open-book assessments. An additional six students received zero grade but were allowed to resubmit their piece of work.

A Nottingham teacher has collected 3,800 reports on corruption in the international school system that deal with nepotism, fraud, and cheating. In England, they highlight structural "reform", with its waste of money on free schools that never open, the horrific ongoing costs of successive Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs), and the way schools are pitched against each other to survive. Examples include an academy boss telling teachers to cheat on exams and the widespread relocation of students to improve school performance.

The assessment watchdog Ofqual figures for the 2017-2018 academic year show 1,539 penalties for malpractice in vocational qualifications, of which 55 per cent were for students, 39 per cent for staff, and 6 per cent for schools and colleges. There were 606 penalties issued to staff, with the most common offense being “improper assistance to candidates”, which accounted for 75 per cent of all penalties. Only 7 per cent of penalties for staff came in the form of suspensions or bans. In 45 per cent of cases, staff received a written warning, while 41 per cent of the penalties involved further training. The most common type of cheating reported was plagiarism, which accounted for 46 per cent of all student penalties, followed by in the use of mobile phones or other communication devices in exams, accounted for 19 per cent.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) reports that the pandemic has demonstrated how innovative and adaptable essay mills marketing could be” by advertising discounts and “suggesting they could fill a gap resulting from a lack of supervision, or even offering essay writing to help students stay safe”. According to QAA, universities must look at how to prevent or catch cheating in the physically distanced assessment.

According to academic integrity experts, online exams provide better access to information about student behaviour and are much more secure. Examiners can remotely access student computers to check for duplicates or unauthorized software. Impersonation is prevented by technology that recognizes students' faces and typing styles, while artificial intelligence is used to detect shadows that betray other people hidden in the room.

According to the Head of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), essay mills have become “public health and safety issue”, affecting all of society. As a result of students cheating in their degrees, there will be people entering into professions who are not qualified to carry out the work that is required. This practice is spreading now to the sixth-formers going to essay mills to get through their coursework at school.

A report revealed that hundreds of university students had been disciplined or expelled for making sexually explicit, homophobic or racist comments on social media. In order to improve online safety for staff and students, Universities UK has published guidance for its members on how to tackle harassment including cyberstalking, trolling and sexting.

Higher Education Statistics reports the number of Chinese students studying at UK universities has reached record levels. In the meantime, there is also an increase in the number of Chinse students who are being ripped off by fraudsters for thousands of pounds. For fear of being deported, these students pay huge sums to scammers who act as police officers.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the seven largest qualification providers in the UK, commissioned an independent report into exam malpractice. Police are investigating an exam leak after a number of students had advance sight of part of a General Certificate of Secondary Education religious studies paper. Another A-level maths paper was offered for sale via social media. Two questions from the paper first appeared on Twitter, offering students the whole paper for £70.

The number of students caught cheating at the UK’s top universities has shot up by a third in three years, with experts warning that institutions are ignoring the problem. A senior teaching fellow at Imperial College London and one of the UK’s leading experts on essay cheating, said: “A growing number of young people also feel more pressure than ever before, often turning to cheating to help them get through their degrees. It’s also easier to access websites that offer paid-to-order essays”.