NAIN have defined Contract Cheating as follows:
A form of academic misconduct when a person uses an undeclared and/or unauthorised third party, online or directly, to assist them to produce work for academic credit or progression, whether or not payment or other favour is involved. The contract with the student can include payment or other favours, but this is not always the case.
• Buying a completed assignment from a tutoring or ghost-writing company (purchasing from online essay mill websites);
• Asking a partner, friend or family member to write part or all of an assignment for you;
• Paying a private tutoring company to coach you on how to complete an assignment;
• Submitting ‘model’ assignment answers provided by a private tutor or tutoring company;
• Getting someone else to sit an exam for you; Sitting an exam for someone else;
• Buying, selling or swapping assignments or assignment answers via ‘sharing’ websites or social media platforms. E.g., Facebook, TikTok etc
• Types of services that students can use to have work produced for them include that are prohibited 1) essay writing services; 2)friends, family and other students; 3) private tutors; 4) copyediting services; 5) agency websites; 6) reverse classifieds
Contract cheating represents a clear threat to higher education providers’ ability to assure the standards of their qualifications and it presents a very serious threat to the higher education sector globally if not appropriately addressed.
It suggests deliberate, pre-planned and intentional deception (Newton, 2018).
Services may include the provision of essays or other types of assignments by a third party, websites offering materials (including essay banks), or an individual such as a lecturer, colleague, friend or relative providing input. ‘Input’ means that the third party makes a contribution to the work of the student, such that there is reasonable doubt as to whose work the assessment represents.
Whistleblowing is making a disclosure in the public interest by an internal or external person, in an attempt to reveal neglect or abuses within the activities of an organisation (or its partners) that threaten individuals, standards, quality, integrity or reputation. Students and staff are asked to report any contact from Essay Mills
We will report the account or contract cheating provider to Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), who are able to prosecute these providers under Section 43A of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019. Only providers and advertisers can be prosecuted under this act, not students, and we will not include any of your personal details when reporting to QQI. There are no repercussions for you when reporting contact by suspected contract cheating providers, and you can help protect yourself and other students from these by reporting them.