In this month’s podcast, Richard Kjellgren (University of Stirling) talks to Mairéad Boland, QQI, about the scoping study, Criminal Grades? Contract cheating and student exploitation in Higher Education, which he conducted alongside Dr Niall Hamilton-Smith (University of Stirling) and Professor Alistair Fraser (University of Glasgow).
The study was published by the Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research in June 2022 and was undertaken in order to consider student vulnerabilities relating to contract cheating and – more broadly – academic misconduct. In the podcast, Richard discusses what the research uncovered about different types of contract cheating provision and key messages for education providers.
Note: The study 'Criminal Grades? Contract cheating and student exploitation in Higher Education' categorises contract cheating services into three broad types based on the platforms on which they are provided: cheating organisations’ own websites (“essay mills”), small ads platforms such as Gumtree, and ‘outsourcing’ sites such as Fiverr. Any comments in the podcast with regard to Gumtree or Fiverr should not be construed as claims that these sites are essay mills; rather, Richard discusses in the podcast how Fiverr, Gumtree and similar sites can be misused by contract cheating organisations as platforms for providing their services to learners. Fiverr clearly states in its Terms of Service that users of its site are prohibited from “offering to prepare academic works on behalf of Buyers”. In its Terms & Conditions of Use, Gumtree stipulates that users of the site are prohibited from “post[ing] Content in breach any applicable laws or regulation”. QQI encourages listeners to report any misuse of the Fiverr and/or Gumtree platforms (and other similar platforms) directly to the relevant platform.
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