Academic integrity
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Key focus for priority
- Academic cheating
- Contracting cheating services (CCS)
- Provider enabled dishonesty
Risk overview
Academic integrity is fundamental to the credibility and quality of education delivered by the vocational education and training (VET) system and essential for sustaining workforce skills and job readiness. However, the sector is increasingly facing risks related to academic dishonesty from students and provider staff who engage in unauthorised collaboration, plagiarism, engagement with third parties to undertake student assessments, or altering student assessments after submission.
Facilitating academic cheating is essential to the operations of non-genuine providers, making it an integrity risk to the sector. While legislation has disrupted operations for some commercial cheating services, they often continue their engagement with the sector by reappearing under new identities and marketing techniques. Academic dishonesty is a gateway for unscrupulous operators to enter the sector and facilitates the presence of non-genuine students. Furthermore, it erodes trust in qualifications and undermines the integrity of Australia's VET and visa systems, compromising national workforce competencies.
Key points from research
- Academic cheating remains a concern within the VET sector. Increased workload pressures on academic staff, unsecured learning platforms, sustained growth in online delivery, aggressive marketing by contract cheating services and rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology are factors likely to broaden the scope of this threat.
- Contract cheating services have increased their reach into the VET system through aggressive marketing to students directly through AI-driven apps, social media, peer introduction and even provider learning platforms.
- There are reports of contract cheating services extorting students who use their services and threatening violence against institutions and individuals who attempt to block or restrict their operations.
- Some providers are actively facilitating academic dishonesty among students and staff, allowing, or encouraging cheating behaviours to support financial gain or operational convenience.