Contract cheating
Contract cheating is a type of academic misconduct where someone else completes an assessment for you.
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What is contract cheating
Contract cheating is a type of misconduct where someone else completes the assessment for you. It can be in exchange for something, such as food or money.
Examples of contract cheating are:
- giving another student goods, even as little as a meal or snack.
- paying a company or an essay mill (they may try to convince you that this is not cheating).
- hiring a private tutor to write your assessment or provide extensive input.
- using artificial intelligence (AI) or chatbots to complete all or part of an assessment.
This is not a complete list.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) or chatbots
Some tasks may be designed to use AI as part of your assessment or studying. If you follow exactly what has been requested by your school, this will not be considered contract cheating.
How to avoid contract cheating
Contract cheating companies often use social media to target university students. If you have been targeted, please speak to your personal tutor or your school for advice and support.
If you are stressed about a deadline or your personal circumstances, contact:
- your personal tutor, or
- Students' Union Academic Advice team (for free impartial advice)
The risks of contract cheating
You might:
- get caught by us (the University) and a serious penalty (PDF, 251kB) could follow.
- get blackmailed by the company, person or essay mill into paying more money.
- struggle to find work in future as your skills would not have developed.
If this happens to you, we suggest you let your department/school or the Students' Union Academic Advice Team know.
What happens if you are contract cheating
If we think you have contract cheated in your work, you may need to attend a meeting with staff in your school to discuss this. During the meeting, we will explain why we think you have contract cheated and ask how you created your work.
If you are the person who completes another student's work for them, you may also face disciplinary action under our regulations.
If you are being investigated for contract cheating, you can contact our Students' Union Academic Advice team for free and impartial advice and support.