Education

Plagiarism at Universities rises

Published

8 years ago

June 30, 2017

THE FIRST weeks at University can be hectic.

There is finding friends, finding a decent takeaway, exploring the world in a number of ways that parents don’t like to acknowledge exist.

IGNORANCE NO EXCUSE

There are also, at most universities, a short bedding-in period when students are given an idea of the academic standards they are supposed to attain.

And one message is hammered home early and hammered home often: plagiarism can seriously mess up your academic future. If you are caught, you face a range of punishments which can include having to re-sit a course module up to expulsion from the University.

Even if you help someone cheat – because that is what plagiarism is, cheating – you can be penalised. The student who helps a friend cheat by letting them copy their submitted work is as guilty as the friend they try to ‘help’.

It’s not as if it’s a great mystery to students that the penalties for cheating are serious. That is spelled out by lecturers, and contained in every single course manual and the student code of conduct.

THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM

The pressure on students to perform can be tough. The increase in the numbers of students attending university has debased the value of a degree to the extent that some overseas universities no longer recognise UK universities’ award of one year Master’s degree, let alone regard undergraduate degrees as the hallmark of academic achievement. That applies to universities across the UK.

Most professions will specify that a 2:1 or better is required at undergraduate level for admission to postgraduate study. Graduate traineeships often specify the same requirement as a minimum.

Teaching, for example, is so desperately keen to recruit the best undergraduates and postgraduates that it offers incentives for those with better honours degrees in select subjects. The determination to shed the ‘those who can’t, teach’ label has created a marketplace in which a first class honours degree in a priority subject – physics, maths, chemistry, Welsh – can access £20K of funding for postgraduate qualification as a teacher. A 2:2 degree in any other subject gets you nothing in additional support.

CHEATING NOT NEW

A minority of students have always cheated, but the use of the internet has created an environment in which cheating has become easier. As higher education has become more accessible so has easy access to any number of shortcuts and back-alley ways to bumping up marks.

Looking at some standalone work-related training modules delivered by private companies, there is solid evidence that not only are the lecturers under-qualified to deliver the course material but that they turn a blind-eye to a culture of cut and paste.

The Herald is aware of one course tutor who actively encouraged one person attending such a course to simply resubmit their undergraduate coursework to gain the qualification they were seeking via the provider employing the tutor.

Self-plagiarism is still plagiarism and it is still cheating. More importantly, the training provider – or rather, the course tutor – was, of course, swindling the employer funding the training.

Does it matter?

Of course it does. In a working world in which employers look at qualifications first, how is the employer meant to distinguish between a qualification gained through GENUINE effort, work, and ability and one gained by a cheating recourse to Control-C followed by Control-V?

Those who get away with it are often smug, but they also liars and – ultimately – frauds.

BUYING FAILURE

Essay mills, the last resort of the truly idle cheat, claim to be able to deliver a guaranteed grade in any subject on any topic – for a price.

Essay mills represent cheating on a commercial and contractual scale. An essay mill is a business that allows customers to commission an original piece of writing on a particular topic so that they may commit academic fraud. Students commission others to write their coursework for them through an essay mill in the hope they will attain the grade required.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education said in 2016: “Providers of these services claim that the essays they produce are ‘100 per cent plagiarism free’, but that is a misleading claim. While the essay may not contain any plagiarised text itself, it becomes an act of plagiarism and academic dishonesty once the student submits it for assessment and represents it as his or her own work.

“If students submit work that is not their own, this compromises the fairness of the assessment process and poses a threat to the reputation of UK higher education. There are potentially serious ramifications for the public if people who falsely claim to be competent as a result of an academic award enter a profession and practise.”

In February this year, the UK Government began a consultation with QAA, universities, and the NUS. At that point, the UK Government suggested it was reluctant to go down the legislative route to try and tackle the problem, but in other countries both the provider AND the student would be guilty of a criminal offence.

Such is the scale of the issue across the UK, and not solely in Wales, that QAA has recommended that the advertising of ‘contract cheating’ services be banned and that criminal penalties be put in place for cheating by the use of essay mills. In New Zealand, essay mills have been fined and had their assets frozen.

PLAGIARISM IN WELSH UNIS

The issue has been thrown into sharp relief by a Freedom of Information Act request made by BBC Radio Wales.

Figures obtained by the broadcaster showed an increase in cases of alleged plagiarism from 1,370 2013/14 to 2,044 in 2015/16.

The BBC Freedom of Information request disclosed the following over the three academic years 2013/14 to 2015/16

University of South Wales (approximately 30,000 students): 1,144 students accused of cheating, two prohibited from sitting future exams
Cardiff Metropolitan University: 565 students accused of cheating, 12 prohibited from sitting future exams
University of Wales Trinity Saint David – UWTSD: 928 students accused of cheating, 47 prohibited from sitting future exams
Bangor University: 36 students accused of cheating, four prohibited from sitting future exams
Cardiff University: 713 students accused of cheating, three prohibited from sitting future exams
Swansea University: 1,157 students accused of cheating, 25 prohibited from sitting future exams
Wrexham Glyndwr University: 103 students accused of cheating, three prohibited from sitting future exams
Aberystwyth University: 551 students accused of cheating, 0 prohibited from sitting future exams
The increased detection of plagiarism suggests that universities are becoming more adept at identifying incidents of academic fraud.

Many Universities use software to detect plagiarism, for example Turn-it-in. The software uses a document comparison algorithm that checks papers against a massive database of stored academic papers to identify cheats.

We asked UWTSD to comment on the figures.

Community

Pleas to save fire-ravaged Manorbier school site heard

Published

1 day ago

December 17, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A PLEA for councillors to not act as “judge, jury and executioner” when the potential closure of fire-ravaged Manorbier is decided upon next year was heard at full council.

At the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members received a petition opposing the potential closure of Manorbier School.

Manorbier Church in Wales VC School and its adjoining schoolhouse was severely damaged by a fire on October 11, 2022, which broke out in the school roof space.

After that, a ‘school from school’ was set up in Jameston Village Hall.

It had been hoped the school would be rebuilt, but earlier this year members of Pembrokeshire County Council backed a report of the School Modernisation Working Group which, amongst other recommendations, included a statutory consultation on proposals to discontinue Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School.

The decision attracted strong local opposition, with more than 1,500 people signing a petition on the council’s own website calling for the school to be rebuilt, meaning it passed the threshold for a formal hearing by members of the council.

The formal consultation for the discontinuation of Manorbier closes in just a few days on December 19.

Manorbier community councillor Richard Hughes

However, many of the council’s figures, especially on the level of surplus places at the school, have been strongly disputed.

Speaking at the December meeting, Richard Hughes, of Manorbier Community Council, said the council consultation was “deeply flawed and unlawful,” the quoted capacity figures after the fire damaged the original building “null and void,” with a true surplus of some 21 per cent.

“The school is clearly thriving under less-than-ideal conditions, your report claims 59 per cent [surplus], it’s misleading and artificial.”

He said the council was acting as “judge, jury and executioner” in its “deeply flawed” consultation.

Cllr Phil Kidney

Local member Cllr Phil Kidney said the staff, parents and pupils had been “living this process for three years,” adding: “At worst light we were misled for three years, living under this shadow, it’s not fair.

“We’ve been promised all along ‘we will rebuild this school; no matter what we do we will have to spend on this school, we have to hand it back in [a useable] condition.

“How members of staff have worked under these conditions for three years is amazing, the service they are providing in that school is fantastic.”

He criticised the consultation wording, feeling it painted Manorbier in an unfair light, saying it was stacked heavily in favour of St Florence school in a submitted question heard later at the meeting.

“We do feel there’s a hidden agenda, nothing more than a boost for St Florence school; we were led to believe was all about the positives and the negatives for the school; we have lost the trust in the director of education, we still feel we’re not been listened to.”

He said it was important councillors, when a final vote on Manorbier’s future, expected in March, keep an open mind “not just going along with the narrative: ‘We can’t afford it, and the figures are going down’.”

He went on to say: “We want to get the right vote, the moral vote, and get the school rebuilt.”

Cllr Guy Woodham

Cabinet member for education Cllr Guy Woodham praised the work at the school following the fire, saying he intended to “set the facts out” when it came to a final decision.

Leader of the independent group Cllr Huw Murphy said: “It just doesn’t sit right with me to close a school that has burned to the ground. Yes, we will respect the decision in March, however we haven’t handled the decision well. We need to do what’s right, and we haven’t done what’s right for Manorbier.”

Members agreed to note receipt of the petition prior to the final report before council in 2026.

Later in the meeting, Cllr Woodham disputed Cllr Kidney’s submitted question claim, Cllr Kidney telling Cllr Woodham: “We’ve put a lot of trust and faith in you on this consultation to make sure it’s fair and transparent. St Florence was referenced more times than our school, for a consultation I think it’s misleading.”

Cllr Woodham responded: “I will do my utmost to give a balanced report when I bring it back to full council.”

Community

Plea to save Tegryn Ysgol Clydau school heard by councillors

Published

2 days ago

December 16, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A PLEA to not “pluck the heart out of a community” by closing a Pembrokeshire village school was heard by councillors just days after a consultation into its future was launched.

At the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members received a petition opposing the potential closure of Ysgol Clydau, Tegryn, which had generated 648 responses on the council’s own website, meaning it crossed the threshold to be heard at full council.

A council statement accompanying the launch of the consultation said: “At its meeting on May 8, Pembrokeshire County Council considered a report of the School Modernisation Working Group which outlined the findings of a review of education provision in the Preseli area.

“In particular the review considered the extent of surplus school places in the area, set against a significant decline in the pupil population.”

The Ysgol Clydau petition states: “We demand that Pembrokeshire County Council reconsider its decision to close Ysgol Clydau and instead prioritise the needs of our community by keeping the school open. We oppose the closure of Ysgol Clydau and call for full public scrutiny before any decision is made.

“We urge you to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the community, listen to our concerns, and work with us to find alternative solutions that support the needs of our children and families.”

Sarah Farnden

Speaking at the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, Sarah Farnden, in an emotive plea, said the school was “not just a school but a sanctuary, a nurturing environment,” which offered “warmth, belonging and safety”.

“A village without a school becomes a village without families, a village without families becomes a village without a future,” she told members, adding: “Ysgol Clydau is not in debt, it’s not overspent, we’ve done everything asked of us, so why are we being punished?

“There has been a school on this site for 145 years, if you close Ysgol Clydau you are not closing a building you are closing a heritage; we are not here to fight you, we are here to beg you.”

Cllr Iwan Ward

Local member Cllr Iwan Ward said: “The decision of Pembrokeshire County Council to release this consultation on the closure a few days before Christmas is extremely disappointing, a time of year families should be concentrating on being together, not a time to have to face the threat of losing the heart of our community.”

To applause from the gallery, he added: “It’s not a matter of numbers on a paper, it’s a moral matter; the school is much more than four walls, it’s a safe place for children to grow and a cornerstone of community spirit.

“Closing a school like this rips the heart out of rural life, to threaten a school that isn’t failing is an action I cannot, and am not willing to, take quietly.

“I will stand with the staff, the governors, and the children also.”

Members heard the consultation had been expected to launch back in September but had been delayed due to staffing issues; its 42-day period due to now end in late January.

Members agreed to note the petition ahead of the consultation end, recommendations on the school’s future expected to be decided in March.

The final word went to Sarah Farnden, who said: “We’re not asking for special treatment, we’re asking for fairness and compassion; do not pluck the heart out of the community.”

Education

School leaders deliver Christmas cards to Senedd calling for fair funding

Published

2 days ago

December 16, 2025

Tom Sinclair

SCHOOL leaders from across Wales are delivering Christmas cards to the Senedd today in a symbolic call for fair funding for schools.

The cards, one for every Senedd member, are being delivered by school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, urging politicians to give children in Wales what it describes as the “best Christmas gift” – a fully and fairly funded education.

NAHT Cymru national secretary Laura Doel and president Kerina Hanson are gathering outside the Senedd at 1:00pm today before handing the cards in at the Senedd reception.

The action follows the union’s warning last week that while £339m came to the Welsh Government as a result of increased education spending in England for the 2026/27 draft budget, only £39m has so far been allocated to core school budgets in Wales.

Earlier this week, an additional £112.8m was allocated to local government following a budget agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru, with some of that funding expected to reach schools.

However, NAHT Cymru says the additional money will fall well short of what is needed. The Welsh Local Government Association has predicted a £137m shortfall in school budgets in Wales for the next financial year, while local authorities are also facing a £200m deficit in social care funding.

The union has also raised concerns that the First Minister has declined to explain how the £339m of additional education funding has been allocated, prompting calls for urgent and transparent scrutiny of the budget.

Speaking ahead of the card delivery, Laura Doel said: “Christmas is a time of giving, and we’re urging the Welsh Government to give schools in Wales the funding they rightfully deserve.

“The money that comes to Wales for education should be spent on education, yet we know much of it has never reached schools. We urgently need clarity on where this money has gone and to see greater investment going directly to pupils.

“The system is at breaking point, and without action we are facing an incredibly bleak new year for schools across Wales.

“We’re calling on every member of the Senedd to act this Christmas and give children in Wales the best possible gift – a fully and fairly funded education.”

The Welsh Government says education remains a priority, pointing to additional funding agreed with Plaid Cymru for local government, some of which is expected to support schools.