Wolverhampton University in top 10 for student cheats

The University of Wolverhampton has been named among the worst in the country for students cheating to try and boost their grades.

An investigation of more than 80 universities has revealed that academic misconduct is soaring across the country, with Wolverhampton named eighth in the top 10 universities for cheats.

More than 17,000 cases of cheating were recorded nationally in the 2009-10 academic year — up 50 per cent in four years. In 2005/06 there were 9,100 incidents among 70 universities.

Most involved plagiarism in essays and other coursework but there were also reports of students buying coursework from internet-based essay-writing companies, and trying to bribe lecturers.

The latest figures made available by the University of Wolverhampton from 2008-2009 revealed 498 incidents of cheating.

That was up from 360 in 2005/06 — an increase of 38 per cent.

At Staffordshire University, the numbers of incidents was 268 in 2009-2010. The university did not release figures for 2005/06.

Twenty incidents of cheating were reported at the University of Birmingham in 2009/10, up by 25 per cent from 15 four years earlier.

Cheating cases were down at Birmingham City University, with 81 in 2009/10, down from 150.

The worst university in the UK was the University of Greenwich with 838 incidents, up from 540 in 2005/2006, according a national newspaper study.

The true figure is believed to be even higher because many universities were able to provide details of only the most serious cases.

Professor Geoffrey Alderman, from the University of Buckingham, who is a long-standing critic of falling standards in higher education, described the figures as a "pretty depressing".

He said: "There has been a move away from unseen written examinations and most courses are now assessed through term papers, which makes it more tempting to commit plagiarism.

"I advocate a return to the situation where it is impossible to pass without achieving a minimum score in an unseen written test."

Jon Elsmore, Dean of Students, said: "Issues of plagiarism and cheating are experienced at all universities and we are particularly robust at uncovering both. We treat these matters seriously.

"Sometimes plagiarism can occur unintentionally, and if problems are identified early in a student's career they can be helped to develop their academic skills and avoid more serious consequences if they do not change their approach."