- Exclusive
- National
- NSW
- University
This was published 3 years ago
Ghost writers helping UNSW students to cheat on assessments, leaked report reveals
Rates of cheating have snowballed at the University of NSW, a leaked report reveals, including 139 science students who hired ghost writers from Chinese messaging site WeChat to complete their work.
The 2019 Students Conduct and Complaints report, marked confidential but obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, noted a 'consistent and continuing upward trend' in student misconduct allegations since 2014.
The University of NSW is grappling with surging levels of student misconduct. Credit: Ryan Stuart
The report - published in March - also noted a doubling of student complaints in 2019.
A string of students using dodgy medical certificates to earn special consideration in assessments saw the category of document falsification was up 67 per cent in 2019 when compared to the year prior, while there was a 19 per cent increase in exam misconduct and 17 per cent hike in low-level plagiarism.
The most alarming figure was a 400 per cent surge in substantiated cases of contract cheating, also known as ghost writing and explained as a “form of collusion that involves a student engaging another person to complete work for them”.
Up to 168 cases were substantiated last year, compared to 34 in 2018 and five in 2017.
The vast majority were connected to a cohort of science students accused of contract cheating in late 2018, with the accusations substantiated last year.
The 139 students provided a contract cheating service with their log-in details to complete assessments in two physics courses.
The bulk were completing the courses as part of a business degree and were in their second or final year of study.
“Most of the students reported that they had been directly targeted by contract cheating services via Chinese social media platform WeChat, online searches for study assistance or referral by other students,” the report noted.
The physics students who admitted to cheating failed their assessments or received a two-term suspension, but eight students who did not come forward had their enrolments cancelled.
A spokesperson for the University of NSW pointed out the overall proportion of the student population accused of misconduct was low, at 1.8 per cent last year. "While students globally are finding more ways to cheat – UNSW is world leading in its use of sophisticated tools and techniques to prevent and detect cheating."
She said the upward trend in allegations was related to increased detection. The university was also working on a range of strategies to prevent cheating, including assessment design, awareness campaigns and compulsory integrity training for students.
"Student misconduct is treated very seriously," she said. "In cases where misconduct is found, punishment includes failure in the course and exclusion from UNSW."
Low-level plagiarism - including copying, collusion or inappropriate paraphrasing - was the most prevalent form of misconduct last year and had surged 110 per cent over six years.
Admissions fraud was down compared to 2018 but remained “higher than normal”, with 90 per cent of the perpetrators from India.
Academic misconduct was on the rise in six of eight faculties with engineering the worst performer.
The Faculty of Engineering experienced a 173 per cent surge in student misconduct in 2019, followed by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Misconduct was rarest in the Faculties of Law and Medicine.
Of 575 student complaints , only two were deemed invalid. The majority related to assessment marking, followed by staff conduct and student behaviour.