Report from the Higher Education Law Solicitors department of Sinclairslaw

Is it right that England and Wales is experiencing a student cheating crisis? The Times reported recently that there was a "student cheating crisis" at British Universities. Statistics reveal that almost 50,000 students were caught cheating in the past three years, up to 75% of which were foreign students. According to education law solicitor Mr Chris McFarland these statistics may not be telling the whole truth. "Although there has been a rise in the number of plagiarism accusations made by Universities we are seeing that many of these claims are being made against foreign students who are often unfamiliar with the British referencing process. This leads to a false finding of plagiarism on turnitin due to a lack of proper footnoting." He added "We have helped a number of students appeal against these accusations successfully, and cleared their academic records. The article in the Times is quick to judge those accused as cheaters, as are many Universities, when in fact it is often an academic mistake." The view was mirrored by Michael Charles specialist education law solicitor and firm CEO. He stated "Many Universities fail to apply the rules correctly, and consider that plagiarism exists whenever the computer system turnitin reports similarities. However plagiarism is a serious offence, and can be treated even as a criminal matter. This means that usually a student should be shown to have behaved improperly with the intention of deceiving. Yet often innocent mistakes can occur." He argues that University law should draw a distinction between what is an academic mistake from a course of conduct exercised by a student with the intent to gain an unfair academic advantage. "Mistake should never be treated as academic misconduct or plagiarism" he said. The conclusion - well statistically it might be said that complaints regarding issues of plagiarism is on the rise. But this does not necessarily mean that the public perception of what actually constitutes plagiarism is the same as the the actions that a University might claim justifies the charge of plagiarism merely by the interpretation of its rules. Higher Education solicitors within the firm of Sinclairslaw should know - the Higher education and University law department handles many hundreds of student academic appeals each year. "A student cheating crisis? - the reality is perhaps down to a tightening up of University rules that categorise many students to have committed offences of academic misconduct whereas the law might apply a different meaning.

If you have been accused of plagiarism, it is wise to seek professional legal help. Sinclairslaw have an expert higher education law solicitors team comprising of a number of specialist solicitors and barristers.Call us today