Office for Students responds to essay mills letter

Responding today to a letter from vice-chancellors and other senior figures in the higher education sector on the use of ‘essay mills’, Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, said:  

‘The rise in the use of essay mills in recent years has sought to turn cheating into an industry. Essay mills are deeply unethical, and their operation is unfair on the vast majority of students who hand in their own work.

‘The Office for Students has a central role to play in ending essay mills; universities and colleges wishing to register with us must demonstrate that they are protecting the reliability and credibility of degree standards. We will work closely with the Government and the whole higher education sector in a collective effort to close these operations for good.’