49% Cambridge pupils cheat

LONDON: Believe it or not, nearly half of the students at Cambridge University “cheat”.

A survey has revealed that almost one in two or 49% of Cambridge students have plagiarised work although this differed radically between subjects and colleges, according to a report in Varsity newspaper.

Ironically, law students plagiarised the most of any subject, with 62% of them admitting to breaking the university rules. The second highest was the archaeology and anthropology department with 59%.

And, at St Edmunds College, 67% of students admitted to breaking the university rules. “It’s a depressing set of statistics,” Robert Foley, a Professor in Biological Anthropology at King’s College London, was quoted by the university’s student newspaper as saying.

Interestingly, only 5% of students who took part in the survey said they had been caught plagiarising while 80% said they thought the university already did enough to punish it.

Many students blamed intense work load for cutting corners, while others said they did not understand the university’s definition of plagiarism and were surprised to know they had broken rules.