The number of students disciplined for academic misconduct at the University of Auckland rose to 195 last year, from 187 the year before. Cheating incidents reported have highlighted concerns about the reuse of assignments and the fact that ghostwriters undermine school integrity. According to the Tertiary Education Union president, university bosses should support teaching staff to implement the best anti-cheating measures such as changing assignments frequently and requiring students to submit their work through detection service Turnitin.

Following the Covid-19 confinements, there were multiple reports of misconduct in online assessments: plagiarism, use of notes, an online file-sharing service, mobile phones, or collaboration with other students. Five of the eight New Zealand universities recorded an increase in cheating in 2020 compared to 2019: 258% at the University of Canterbury, 104% at the University of Lincoln, 61% at the University of Waikato, 21% at the University of Victoria and 10% at Massey University.