As we’re on the cusp of a new term, new year and new decade, I thought I’d once again highlight the plague of tertiary (and possibly secondary) education: the assignment ghost writers. I get follows and requests on Instagram and Linkedin offering their services as though they are bona-fide business models, who offer their (paid) “help” to students who are either too lazy or not quite good enough for university.

Make no mistake, this is blatant cheating, and these “services” are slowly destroying the value of degrees. If they are not stopped, they will damage the integrity of many universities around the world. Some countries have made these sites illegal and will prosecute when possible, though as many of them are run from the Subcontinent, that isn’t always easy. Our jobs as educators is to deter our students from using them by emphasising the damage they do to their peers and their universities. What many students don’t realise is that there are ghost writing sites out there that blackmail students once they have used their service, thereby trapping users into further payments in order to keep their cheated degrees.

It is very rare that teachers do not recognise those students who have used such sites, as the ghosted assignment work varies dramatically from that which we see from day to day in the classroom. A tactic I used to use at the start of every term is, in the first class, ask the students to write a brief projection of what they expect from university, their teachers, give an isight into their ambition and a projection of where they expect to be in five years’ time. What this does is give me an idea of first of all, where teach student might need my support, secondly, it gives me an example of their work that I can use as a kind of progression chart, and something each student can relate to as they move from term to term. Thirdly, I can see if there is a marked difference in their style, logical flow, ideas and the rest of it. Essentially, it serves as a yardstick that will let me know if the work the student produces is original. I’d love to hear suggestions from other educators to see how we can curtail this dodgy trade, and I would also like to hear from students who would like to help stamp the practice out.