Naughty! Dirty rotten cheats exposed at Sussex

A whopping 200 or more students at Sussex were caught cheating last year.

These shockingly high numbers, revealed following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by The Tab, show:

• Many cases were only punished by the capping or reducing (by as little as 2.5 per cent) of marks
• Some cheats escaped with absolutely no punishment
• One student was completely disqualified and expelled for plagiarism

Misconduct in exams may result in absolutely no punishment, but could land you an instant fail of an entire module.

Cheating at UK unis peaked in the academic year of 2009-2010, with an increase of 50 per cent compared to 2005-2006.

Figures have not decreased as rapidly since then.

A reconstruction of what cheating might look like

Perhaps technological progresses in recent years have helped students to develop more sophisticated methods of cheating, or maybe staff have become better at catching cheats recently.

On the bright side, at least we are not London Metropolitan University, who recorded more than a mind-numbing 900 cases of cheating in a single year.

However, we can’t compete with the likes of Oxford, who recorded a measly 12 cases in that same year.

Business and Management second year Alex Davies said: “As someone who has falsely been accused as a cheat, the high number doesn’t shock me, because I believe a lot of the cases involved innocent students.

“Cheating is to be expected.”

Jake Wade-Davies, first-year Media Production student, said: “I am not shocked by the high figures at all.  Frankly I thought there would be a higher number as the syllabus seems to be made increasingly difficult every year.

“I think that cheaters in exams should be given another chance, and made to re-sit the test in a more controlled environment.

“However, if cheats manage to pass, then it should go on their records that they cheated originally, so every employer knows exactly who they are hiring.”

This also constitutes cheating in some circles

Annabelle Hawkes, English Lit second-year, said: “I think it’s a shame. It’s sad that students are resorting to cheating when with some effort they’re probably more than capable.

“If they get caught then I think that’s it really, knowing they won’t get their grade is punishment enough. I think it’s the students that are getting away with it that’s a problem, it’s a bit of an ‘f you’ to the students that do put the work in.

“But to echo a cliché they’re only cheating themselves. As to Sussex having such a high number of students found cheating compared to other unis…I don’t know.

“I guess we’re a bit naughty.”

Second-year Physicist Eddie Lambden said: “It’s a bit embarrassing for the university to be honest, there should probably be stricter controls in place to stop cheating from happening.

“At the very least, they should have to retake the module but the severity of the punishment should reflect the severity of the cheating.

“It’s easier said than done to monitor cheating, because we were all told about no cheating at the start of the examinations so I think that the fact that so many students were able to cheat means that Sussex needs to crack down more seriously on cheaters.”

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