Tackling Academic Dishonesty: Contract Cheating in 2025

Contract cheating, the outsourcing of student work to a third party,  is a phenomenon which shows no signs of slowing down in 2025.  Recent AI developments have enabled many companies to personalise and expand their services, using AI to mimic students’ writing styles and create bespoke essays that can evade plagiarism detection tools.

These services often advertise themselves in vague and misleading ways, claiming to ‘help’ students with their academic work.  In reality, they offer complete essay-writing solutions and even tailored responses to assignments.

In this blog piece, Katherine Barnett considers the spread of these platforms, how they impact academic integrity, and what should be done to combat them.  Read the article in full here.

You can also hear more about contract cheating services and their advertising tactics in episode three of The VICTVS Podcast.

Effective Change Management in Assessment 

Change is inevitable for the operations of any organisation – including those in the assessment space – but effective change management is what allows these transitions to happen smoothly and successfully.

We have seen the consequences of poor change management in various news headlines over the years.  In 2020, the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) faced significant challenges during the implementation of online psychology exams, with technical issues causing disruption for nearly 3,000 students.  This led to widespread frustration among students, parents, and teachers, highlighting the need for robust technical infrastructure and proper testing before the rollout of digital exam platforms.

Poorly managed change in the assessment space can lead to exam delays or delays in results, decreased assessment quality, and even increased cheating and security risks.  These are issues that not only affect students, but also parents, teachers and regulatory bodies, and can cause major reputational damage.

In our latest blog piece, we explore the reasons change management often goes wrong, and share practical strategies to ensure success.  We also share how VICTVS helps organisations implement change effectively, avoiding the pitfalls and delivering better outcomes for all involved.

To read the full article, click here.

The VICTVS Podcast, ‘Revision Notes – December‘ – Available Now 

Back in December, our host Katherine Barnett sat down with global technology specialist and consultant Geoff Chapman to discuss some of our favourite news stories from 2024, as well as Geoff’s predictions for the coming year.

The conversation ranged from the rise in SEN requests to bizarre studies about exam ceiling height, with Geoff giving invaluable insight into the industry and outlining his wishes for the education space in 2025.

To watch the episode, check out the VICTVS podcast on YouTube, or listen via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Other News 

• Takedown #27: Hail Mary Papers:  The contract cheating newsletter This Isn’t Fine spotted Hail Mary Papers, a contract cheating company, advertising on YouTube.  The ads feature images of the Virgin Mary alongside claims the company can save students from “plagiarism hell” and complete their schoolwork for them. 
• This School Will Have Artificial Intelligence Teach Kids (With Some Human Help):  An online school is set to open in Arizona later this year which will (at least partly) replace teachers with AI.  Unbound Academy will prioritise AI in its content delivery model, with teachers becoming “guides” who will monitor students progress.  More on this at EdWeek. 
• Should Instructors Ask Students to Show Document Histories to Guard Against AI Cheating?:  This piece from EdSurge explores process tracking as a means of monitoring for student’s use of AI in assessments.  While the method could show if students are copying and pasting from a tool like ChatGPT, some academics warn it violates student’s privacy. 
• Third of Pupils Now Get Extra Time in Exams:  According to Ofqual, nearly 420,000 pupils in England are getting extra time in their GCSE and A-Level exams.  That’s almost a third of all pupils and four times higher than a decade ago.  The Times has the full story. 
• The Best and Worst in Academic Integrity 2024:  In case you missed it, The Cheat Sheet produced their annual overview of the best and worst in academic integrity for 2024, featuring key stories of the year regarding Chegg, Grammarly and more.  Read the full issue here. 

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Katherine Barnett