Universities have moved to reassure Education Minister Chris Hipkins they have stringent systems to stop students cheating on assignments, despite an African ghostwriter blowing the whistle on alleged “contract cheating” at major New Zealand institutions.

The academic, known only as ‘The Kenyan’, claims to have written hundreds of papers for Kiwi students while allegedly working for eastern China-based academic “essay writing service” Assignment Joy, the Weekend Herald reported on Saturday.

The anonymous whistleblower alleges that some New Zealand students have graduated with degrees without ever writing a single assignment.

Urgent talks are ongoing with the Government to follow Australia’s move and outlaw cheating websites and block them from local access.

Now, Education Minister Hipkins has spoken to the Herald and said he’s confident that New Zealand universities are doing enough to combat contract cheating.

“I am assured that universities are aware of and have deterrents in place to help prevent students from using offshore services in this way to pass assignments,” Hipkins said.

Prevention techniques include software for detecting plagiarised content, warnings when students access essay writing services on university networks, multiple assessment formats, checks for consistency, as well as educative programmes that warn students about the consequences of cheating, Hipkins said.

“In New Zealand, the Academic Quality Agency and NZQA consider these measures when quality assuring PTEs and Te Pūkenga, and universities respectively. There is also a lot of collaboration with overseas partners in this space,” the minister added.

“We are always open to receiving advice on how to better strengthen these measures based on best practice.”

 ‘The Kenyan’ claims to have authored papers for struggling international students – primarily Chinese - enrolled in New Zealand for as little as US$60 (NZ$100) per 1000 words.

Students who have used the cheating service are alleged to have attended leading New Zealand institutions, including the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Wintec, and New Zealand Tertiary College.

Examples of allegedly ghost-written assignments, which appear to have been marked by tutors, have been seen by the Herald.

They cover assignments for students pursuing education, health science, business and economics, and applied management.

“I can bet you with my life many have graduated with master’s and bachelor’s degrees without ever having done a single assignment,” the whistleblower told the Herald.

“I have done some for students from their first year to year of completion ... this is just a normal occurrence.”

He claims to have written more than 500 papers for New Zealand-enrolled students over the past decade.

Assignment Joy’s website says its “essay writing services” are available for students in the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

It boasts that most of its writers are from “local institutions of higher learning”.

“They know how to write a good assignment and get high marks!” it says.

“We guarantee that all papers are 100% original and delivered on time!”

Universities New Zealand, which advocates for the country’s eight universities, is talking with the Government about legislative change to make the broadcasting of cheating services an offence. It would block national access to 40 cheating websites.

Chief executive Chris Whelan called essay writing services “an unfortunate feature of the modern world”. Some services have been known to blackmail students, threatening to expose their cheating.

“All eight New Zealand universities have a wide range of policies and processes aimed at deterring students from using them and imposing harsh penalties where use is detected,” Whelan said.

The University of Auckland defines contract cheating as the form of academic misconduct where students have academic work (coursework, tests or exams) completed on their behalf, which they then submit as if they had created it themselves.

In New Zealand, it is an offence under the New Zealand Education Act (1989) to “provide or advertise cheating services”.

In Universities New Zealand’s most recent survey of the institutions, at least 18 mechanisms were identified for deterring and detecting cheating, of which every university was using at least 11 and some as many as 15.

The mechanisms include software for detecting plagiarised content, warnings when students try to access essay writing services via university networks, assessment design that requires academics to use multiple forms of assessment, like essays, tests and presentations and encourages staff to look for inconsistencies, and education programmes that warn students of the consequences of cheating.

Wintec confirmed that one Business and Enterprise student was found using the Assignment Joy platform earlier this year.

An investigation was launched, resulting in zero marks for the assessment and the student’s module result changed to a fail.

“We have clear processes and regulations in place for offending such as suspected cheating,” said Dr Leon Fourie, Wintec and Toi Ohomai transitional executive lead.

Wintec also has an Academic Integrity online module available for students, which features a specific section on plagiarism, and was recently made compulsory for its new international learners.

“Cheating or suspected cheating is concerning for any educational institution, and at times can be hard to detect and prove,” Fourie added.

“Ensuring our tutors, centres and students are aware and vigilant about the need to maintain academic integrity is crucial, and regular education for all is conducted through our systems.”

AUT said contract cheating is a concern for the whole tertiary sector and maintains a list of blocked sites which students cannot access on the university network.

“It is not possible to quantify the frequency, but AUT has a university-wide approach for dealing with breaches of academic integrity,” a spokeswoman said.

Alleged breaches are investigated and if found to be substantiated penalties may be imposed.

“AUT takes academic integrity breaches seriously and has staff dedicated to educating students and investigating breaches,” the spokeswoman added.

“Supporting students who have challenges also forms part of AUT’s approach to minimising breaches of academic activity.”

The University of Auckland says it understands that contract cheating is a growing problem for them and “the sector as a whole”.

“We detect a number of cases each semester of students engaging in contract cheating using such companies,” a university spokeswoman said.

“It is extremely concerning, both for students - who are then vulnerable - and for the university.”

For students suspected of academic misconduct, the University of Auckland has robust processes for investigating academic misconduct allegations and penalties can be applied when these are upheld, ranging from written warnings, grade reductions, applying a zero grade, and referrals to a disciplinary committee that can even suspend enrolment in the most serious cases.

New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) said it designs its assessments to include “the student experience and student practice” which reduce cheating possibilities.

“NZTC upholds rigorous and robust systems to ensure the authenticity of our students’ submitted work through the use of plagiarism checking when students submit assessments,” a spokeswoman said.

“NZTC extensively investigates any instance of cheating brought to our attention detected through the assessment submission software or otherwise, and takes action accordingly. There are a range of penalties for cheating including failure of the course and withdrawal from NZTC.”

It also constantly updates its systems to keep pace with evolving technology and recently launched software that helps spot contract cheating.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) confirmed to the Herald it is aware of Assignment Joy and its marketing to New Zealand students.

“From individuals who participate in contract cheating to the paper mills that provide the opportunity to cheat, there is a domino effect for the wider community and society,” said NZQA’s deputy chief executive quality assurance, Eve McMahon.

And while NZQA says the primary responsibility for ensuring academic integrity sits with tertiary providers, internet service providers could also play a part in closing websites identified as paper mills.