Essay cheating companies will be made illegal under new legislation, the government has announced.
It said that essay mills would be banned in England under plans to reform post-16 education.
This would make it a criminal offence to provide, arrange or advertise essay-writing services to university and college students for financial gain and follows similar legislation in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
Making essay mills illegal will help to protect students from falling prey to the “deceptive marketing techniques of contract cheating services”, the Department for Education said.
It is one of a several measures being introduced to the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which aims to transform further and technical education, including stronger careers education in schools.
Alex Burghart, the skills minister, said: “Essay…
