assignment writing service uk

assignment writing service uk

The Impact and Ethical Implications of Assignment Writing Services in the UK

1. Introduction to Assignment Writing Services

This report outlines the key background information, including the multiple stakeholders directly involved in assignment writing services and their contradictory positions on the issue, in anticipation of the question and conclusion. It then provides a comprehensive examination of the potential ethical lapses in assignment writing services, performed from a policy perspective, to demonstrate the implications of this surging market in practice. Addressing the potential ethical implications of the booming assignment writing services market in the UK, this report provides the Committee with an overview of the UK assignment writing services landscape found through a search engine, as this merely serves as groundwork for the committee to definitively make their investigation, and only delves into the likely reasoning and implications drawn from it.

Assignment writing services are becoming increasingly more common in the UK educational landscape in recent years. In the senior phase years, these services assist pupils and students with their studies by writing coursework, essays, personal statements, and other academic assignments. Upon completion, these works can be submitted to a student’s college, high school, or university, offered a mark, and even checked for plagiarism. Writing services maintain their own terms of service and may not enforce students to use their papers as their own work or submit them to an institution, yet multiple sites target a UK audience on their home page. Although the ethical implications of these services are murky and open to interpretation, and while some stakeholders take a positive stance on their role in the academic sphere, the simple existence of these services, and their bold presence in the UK educational market, may raise ethical and policy concerns. It is on these ethical implications that this report will mainly focus.

2. Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Assignment Writing Services

Utilizing these services can guarantee that a star pupil receives a high grade and progresses to the next educational level. Services to write assignments have been connected to academic misconduct. The use of these services, when not correctly quoted or referenced, constitutes plagiarism, which is a form of cheating. The student who hands in the essay passes off as his own the scholar’s written ideas and work. The most plain reference is when a student buys and submits a piece of work from a website that creates custom essays for pupils. Non-exploitation of a tool, lack of academic awareness, and exclusion of the university from the educational process are some other ethical complications (including learning and understanding material) (externalization). These unintentional consequences may include jeopardizing the course.

Assignment writing services help students get better grades and secure excellent academic reputations. Some of these valuable services can even be accessed for free, as long as individual pieces are used as learning resources and support for an independent viewpoint. However, these services can have negative implications for pupils who rely on them too heavily. Those who commissioned essays were obviously not the writers, and this was dramatically reflected in their final grades. The expansion of such websites has increased competition within the industry and might result in lower quality products.

3. Ethical Considerations in the Use of Assignment Writing Services

Even if they would not be caught, students must make their own decisions. On one hand, students might feel there is nothing morally wrong or burdensome about paying for an educational service that can boost their grade. In such a case, services are not harmful or illegitimate – cheating is simply a matter of preference or priority (like taking a more comprehensive, private integrative studies option in the face of mediocre grades from inadequate papers). On the other hand, assignment writing services could be criticized on the basis of proportionality (is it rational, fair, or balanced to provide extensive papers for considerable fees in contrast to what any individual can do on his or her own?), consequentialism (is the act of using assignment writing services, which might be unethical, overall beneficial or harmful?) and deontology (does bypassing the learning process autonomously, of their own action, contradict a specific duty the students owe, of principle, to their instructors, themselves, others, or the educational community more generally?).

The use of services provided by assignment writing companies can pose various ethical problems. Most services provided by these companies are plagiarism-free; however, students who use these services are still likely to commit contract cheating, as various scholars have contended. Also, most essay services advise students to use their assignments as a reference, as they could get into trouble if they use the services they receive directly. While these services try to absolve themselves from ethical obligations by providing original assignments and advising students to use them only as an example or a guide, and universities clearly have rules against contract cheating, people ethics and morality are complex. Given the possible complications, the meaning of any particular example or guideline is open to interpretation.

4. Regulations and Legal Frameworks Governing Assignment Writing Services in the UK

The Department for Education expects codes of conduct to be in place and recommends providers utilize the QAA/OfS Guidance on academic appeals, complaints, and disciplinary hearings and its accompanying note on Good-practice Guidance for Providers on Combating Academic Misconduct when producing these. It also sees good governance as a way to ensure the preservation of academic quality and to deal with essay writing provisions. The government expects the maintenance of academic standards while maintaining the autonomy of academic institutions to determine integrity in assessment across providers and students. While the Department for Education, QAA, and relevant funders of Higher Education and private providers have developed codes of conduct that stress a partnership approach, the legal environment for both private and public providers is dynamic and constantly changing in response to the evolving needs of the academic community and at the government level.

In the UK, assignment writing services operate within existing frameworks, laws, and policies which are designed to ensure the provision of academic essays does not contravene international obligations or affect the positive functioning of the academic awards system. The UK regulatory environment for academic essay writing services spans government departments and regulatory bodies, including the Department for Education, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Quality Assurance Agency (for HE in England), the Independent Higher Education (IHE) body (for private providers in HE), the Office for Students (OfS), and equivalent bodies in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each of these organizations has produced advice for providers of Higher Education, developed to maintain integrity and further the provision of high standards within the UK Higher Education sector. It is also likely that, in the future, the Online Safety Bill will need to be taken into account as a further legal guide for businesses in this field.

5. Recommendations for Students and Academic Institutions

Those involved in the support and management of academic institutions have a responsibility in encouraging academic integrity, especially by promoting and subscribing to an ethic of care. Strategies for universities to address essay mill activity and to support academic integrity could include engaging in ongoing discussion with students about what you (staff/students) think constitutes good academic practice, providing examples of good academic practice that students can use when they are unsure about what it means to engage in academic integrity, and engaging in dialogue about knowledge and meaning, and about different ways in which understanding of knowledge and meaning is achieved and shared.

Given the importance of academic integrity in supporting future career development, gaining a better understanding of what contributes to academic integrity issues and the potential negative impacts of such choices may encourage more students to make more academically honest decisions. Academic integrity is considered to be very important to students. Given the importance of academic integrity to students, it is recommended that students take constructive responsibility for the academic decisions they make. This includes being proactive in seeking out and using additional resources and sources of support to improve writers’ academic writing skills, such as services provided by Learning Development/Advisory Services. If students feel under pressure to use such services, students are encouraged to seek out and use discussion-based forms of help, which are provided by trained academic staff.

Recommendations for students