884 naughty Cardiff students exposed as cheats

885 sneaky Cardiff students have been caught cheating since 2009. 

A Freedom of Information request made by The Tab exclusively reveals:

• There have been 531 cases of plagiarism
• 291 students were caught colluding with each other
• 63 have been caught cheating in exams
• A total of 643 bluffing students have been disciplined for cheating

‘Underhand Tactics’

Jack, who is studying Law at Cardiff University tells The Tab: “It’s worrying to think that someone may get a better grade than you through cheating, when no one else is aware of it.

“Their cheating could potentially affect my future if it’s unrecognised”.

Kieron, a Law student at Cardiff University said: “Anyone who is caught cheating should immediately be thrown out of university”.

Jamie, a first year Economics student said: “Everyone should be on a level playing field and no one deserves to get away with having such an unfair advantage over a student who has clearly worked harder”.

In 2010, 37 students had their hands slapped for cheating in exam halls. These instances included a mobile phone on the table, talking, possession of unauthorised materials, annotated dictionaries and one case of unauthorised paper being dropped from a pocket on the way to the toilet.

‘Sneaky students are escaping without punishment

But the figures do show that either cheating is on the decline, or students are getting better at not getting caught.

Perhaps these figures show the youth of today as a flourishing generation, gradually getting to grips with their own lives.

643 students have been discplined for their actions, but in 2009-10, 93 of 288 students caught plagiarising their coursework were not punished in any way.

While this number dropped to just 17 out of 243 in 2010-11, it still represents how a small minority of students are still getting away with it.

With such a high number of students caught cheating, it is no wonder the protocol for catching out cheats during the coursework period has become so rigorous.