Academic cheating

Risk overview

Students who obtain their qualifications through cheating, such as unauthorised collaboration, plagiarism or use of contract cheating services, are not assured to have acquired the knowledge and skills required. This places themselves and others at risk in the workplace. They may also disadvantage those are progressing their studies ethically. Cheating services among students and education staff may increase prevalence of academic cheating and damage VET’s reputation domestically and internationally.

Key points from research

1. Allegations of provider-enabled cheating persist in complaint data, where students report being freely supplied or sold answers to assessments. During the first six weeks of operation of our VET tip-off fline, academic cheating featured in more than 15 per cent of the reports we received.
2. Prevalence and nature of academic cheating has grown in parallel to an increase in online delivery. 
3. The growth in sophistication and reach of contract cheating services and ease of access to AI technology may heighten the risk of academic cheating.
4. Illegal commercial cheating services are actively marketing themselves to educators and some providers are complicit in facilitating cheating behaviours within their RTO. 
5. Academic cheating enables the presence of non-genuine students in VET programs, compromising Australia’s visa system.

Our regulatory response

We will not tolerate provider behaviours that are complicit in enabling academic cheating or exploiting the vulnerabilities of student particular cohorts. 

We are:

• making clear our expectations that providers to have systems of governance for academic integrity
• responding to intelligence and complaints identified in this area, including through monitoring and compliance activities which focus on providers’ compliance with standards around assessment (including authenticity)
• exchanging information and working closely with TEQSA to disrupt the business of commercial academic cheating services
• encouraging tip-off reports from the VET community and from students who may be being approached directly through individual email messages or via class groups set up in messaging apps or on social media platforms.