Today, BBC news mentions guidelines for universities produced by QAA to combat the use of essay mills.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41530287
This won’t work!
While essays can be great for giving students feedback on their writing and ideas, there are several reasons why we shouldn’t try to assess them for marks or grades. I’ve outlined the problems and some possible tactics for avoiding them in the download here:
Assessed-essays-and-alternatives.docx (3889 downloads)
which would also put the essay mills out of business much more effectively than posturing on ‘banning’ them.
Jo Johnson said this form of cheating “not only undermines standards in our world-class universities, but devalues the hard-earned qualifications of those who don’t cheat and can even, when it leads to graduates practising with inadequate professional skills, endanger the lives of others”. Someone please tell him that there are alternatives to assessed essays!!