To report this girl to her university?

[no1understands]

I am a private tutor, working with A level and degree students. This academic year, I have had enquiry after enquiry from university students asking me to do their coursework for them. I always say no, I'll help, point you in the right direction, do an assignment outline but I will not do the assignment for them. They show no interest! I feel like saying 'so, you are telling me you aren't prepared to put in ANY effort whatsoever to get your degree?' One girl said she has got someone to do her coursework for 2 years but now he can't do it, she's looking for someone else. She told me what uni it was and I've had others from there asking the same thing. I feel like ringing the university and telling them what's happening. I need more students to make my business viable. I feel like just doing the coursework for a wad of cash but when it comes down to it, I can't because I'm so angry with them! I feel like I should do something!

International students are a ready source of business.

I'm currently in my 3rd year of an English Degree (although I have been there for 5) and I have seen 6 people removed for plagiarism - it seems there was a spate of so called "Ghost written" essays all from one student - so this one guy had been doing several degrees effectively! I mean, I struggle to do just the 1 ha ha he was busted and gave up the others pretty hasty - they made a huge thing of it to the point where we now sign an extra form for every piece of work we hand in that says we are the ones who have written it and apart from references it is entirely our own work and concept!

There was also a girl who got her Mum to write 2 pieces of coursework for her and only got found out when her Mum put her name on it by acccident! She was pretty swiftly kicked out!

There were also hundreds warned for plagiarism when we got a new system called 'Turn it in' this checks no-one has handed it in before and it also compares the writing styles to check they're fairly similar - except it had loads of teething problems and set off a lot of alarms with a lot of essays!

I'd say don't report her specifically but do let her uni know - there are ways of getting round it!

I would speak to the university. If all of your "enquiries" are related to one subject or faculty, I'd try to speak to someone there directly.

It may not be illegal but I am sure a talented academic can make plenty of money doing things that are less tainted.

Plagiarise, Plagiarise, Plagiarise - but always, please, to be calling it Research -

"'Principled poverty is admirable, but business is business..."

How does it feel to know that your principles have a price? And that they are so cheap?

You're the kind of asshole parent that does their child's homework and projects because you'd rather see them get an A than potentially fail whilst actually learning, aren't you?

dontrun sorry if I misinterpreted you

The taint belongs to the one who cannot be bothered to do his or her own work, IMO.

What I do and have done to make ends meet doesn't trouble me in the least. I sell and have sold work for money. I like to write and do research. I fell into this type of work and it suits my nature, my talent and my lifestyle extremely well and pays fairly well, too.

For certain clients, I even research the schools where they studied before coming to university, gathering what written material I can from their past. It's best to try to get an idea of your client's personality and intellectual abilities.

It's a business.

If you can name the student in question, you know her university and perhaps degree or even the course in question then I think you should inform the university. They can, like has been said before, keep an eye on her. They can also take the new work which will be submitted and compare it to her old coursework, because they will have a reason to do so.

Do it for the greater good of us all!

Everyone has a price. How does it feel? Great! This will be a wonderful Christmas. I love my work! It's like being a perpetual student, but getting paid for it. What is really interesting is to research what gets a good mark at a particular university. It's all fascinating to me.

Poor grammarcey, she was talking about her SIL, not herself.

I agree with Boffin, surely there is enough money to be made doing legit work that you don't need to do this?

It's cheating, pure and simple. Would you cheat on your taxes? or to get benefits? Probably not, so why do this?

Blimey! What a lot of responses! To everyone who says I should do it for the money, I must admit, i did feel like a bit of a fool turning it down, because someone else will always do it, and I'm not changing anything in any way. I tried to email her saying I would do it, but I just couldn't. Maybe I'm too naive to be self employed...

SansaLannister, I sincerely hope that whatever children you have or have any influence over in life don't learn about honesty or integrity from you.

I pay taxes and NI. I'm not cheating. I create work for money or do research for money and what the client does with it is his or her business. It's completely legit. Those people working for mills are legit, even, they are writers. The business is legit.

If it makes people feel better to heap scorn on the writers, go ahead.

They do it to pay bills, not for their health.

I work as a lecturer and am always very careful not to do students' work for them, so give them help with structuring work, and extensive feedback esp. at postgraduate level. But I simply wouldn't write something for them. It's cheating, because the qualification awarded on the basis of it is fake. Why would you want to be involved in faking other people's work?

LOL, Thisisanickname! I'm training one to be a whore and the other to be an assassin, that way I won't have to write for them. I hate working for free :o.

Do not do her work! She is going to be the one in an office who puts onto everyone else. She'll be the one expecting hardworking people to take up the slack and she'd be the first to drop someone else in it if it benefits her. Tell the uni what she's up to - she hasn't earned her degree. She's a total sham. She deserves to be kicked out.

It may be 'legal' as in you can't be prosecuted for it, but it's not 'legitimate' as far as the universities awarding bodies are concerned and it's not 'legitimate' for the employers who employ people on the basis of inproperly obtained qualifications.

It's not heaping scorn to point out you can use your talents more legitimately, such as tutoring or working as a academic in your own right.

A bit flabbergasted at Sansa being so proud of herself for doing this dodgy "business"

Why? It's good money, I enjoy the work and I can work mostly from home. I'm a night owl as well. This work is well-suited to that.

I started out in the 80s, in fact, typing for the people who never learned how and had to have the work submitted the next day. The later the hour, the higher the price per page.

The writers are facilitate cheating and do it knowingly. Therefore imo it is wrong.

I could make a tidy packet writing dissertations on the side, but if I was discovered, I would be sacked for bringing the profession into disrepute. Quite right too.

Yes, tell the university. And well done for refusing to take the money and run. I wish more people had your integrity.

Yes, because academic jobs in the humanities are so plentiful these days. I tutor as well, but such work is scarce in some areas and, due to childcare issues, can be hard to schedule.

I've been doing this sort of work steadily for about 10 years now. I fell into it by chance.

You'd be surprised at the types of people who do this sort of thing for money.

Go for the international students, OP. First, however, try to learn a bit of the language, at least the basic semantics, alphabet, verb tenses, idiom and structure. This will help you in your work to pinpoint what mistakes they are most likely to make in English, and help you make the work a touch less likely to raise eyebrows.