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Police and education authorities are investigating allegations of mass cheating by international students at tertiary institutes throughout the country. The man who reported the issues alleged that he was contracted to write assignments for students at various universities who could not meet language standards.

Students have “no understanding” of what plagiarism is and why they must avoid it, according to new research. An education research fellow at the University of Otago, finds that universities might need to consider their plagiarism policies and how they might “influence or confuse students in counterproductive ways”. The qualitative study, published in the journal Higher Education, found that although “aware of plagiarism as a concept” and believing that those who “intentionally cheat are cheating everybody”, students were ignorant of the potential implications of unintentional plagiarism.

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.