Mitigating the risk of contract cheating in UK higher education: A multi-level solution

The Higher Education sector in the UK faces a number of issues that pose a potential risk to the overall sustainability of the sector. A challenge that has become a growing concern recently is the increase in academic dishonesty and the fast-evolving use of contract cheating, which presents a serious risk to HE providers and the stakeholders that may subsequently be affected. More recently, while research has begun to focus on initiatives that may help to mitigate the growing concerns of contract cheating, to date, the majority of research has focused on a single initiative, with none being successful in eradicating the issue. The current paper therefore proposes a multi-level solution, targeting the key stakeholders involved in contract cheating – HE providers, students, and employees. By integrating a range of educational, preventative and deterrent initiatives, the proposed solution offers HE providers a more targeted approach to combating the risk that contract cheating poses.