New Law bans Essay Mills

Huddersfield Students’ Union is excited to announce that the UK Government have passed a new law which bans Essay Mills across England. This was an issue that a student at Huddersfield University brought up to us through the Your Big Ideas (link: https://www.huddersfieldsu.co.uk/bigideas) platform.

You can see the original Big Idea here: https://hudsu.unioncloud.org/thestudentvoice/stop-uk-companies-profiting-from-students-mistakes

After being debated at a Big Ideas Student Panel back in 2019, the big idea was approved by students and became official Union Policy. This mandated us to work on banning Essay Mills and Emmanuel (SU President at the time, and now a PGR student) campaigned hard in this area.

Emmanuel wrote to the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research, and Innovation (Chris Skidmore at the time). On top of this, we submitted policy to the NUS (National Union of Students) Conference and contributed to a joint letter to the Secretary of State (Gavin Williamson at the time) alongside the President of the Students’ Union at Swansea University and the Vice President of the European Students’ Union. With support of the NUS and the University of Huddersfield, along with years of demanding work, the Government have now passed new legislation that has banned Essay Mills in England within the Skills and Post-16 Education Act which has been reported on by Times Higher Education here:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/remove-essay-mill-adverts-internet-firms-told-new-law-passes

Whilst we cannot take full credit for this new legislation, we feel that Huddersfield Students’ Union have done significant work to contribute towards this discussion.

By having effective change making systems like Your Big Ideas, along with hardworking SU Officers and staff from SU’s and Universities across the UK (and indeed Europe); we can bring prominent issues to the forefront of the political agenda. Not only have we created change for our students, but for tens of thousands of students across the country.

If you have a big idea or want something changed at Huddersfield University, then please get an idea submitted to us through our Big Ideas page!

You never know, your idea could be debated in Parliament and made into law!

Please check out responses below that our previous President (Emmanuel Haruna), the Idea Proposer (Rahema Nadeem) and our current Education Officer (Millie Avery) have stated on this new law.

'Millie Avery' - SU Education Officer 2021/22

“This is fantastic news! It is so great to see this happen after a big idea was posted by Rahema and lobbied hard for by Emmanuel. It is heart-breaking to see students feel they need to resort to paying for essays as they do not see any other option, whether this is due to lack of support on assignments, feeling anxious they will not achieve the grade they hope for or other factors which are outside of their control. Universities need to invest more time and resources into supporting students in completing assignments and enhancing their academic skills, so that they do not feel the need to resort to essay mills.

Similarly, more resources should be committed to support students’ mental health and helping to relieve exam and assessment anxiety. Students should not be made to feel that paying for essays is their only choice and universities should be doing more to support their students, not just ‘punishing’ them. This law is a step in the right direction, and I hope institutions see this as an opportunity to work with students and focus on improving their services and support.”

'Rahema Nadeem' – Big Idea Proposer

“That is amazing news! I am thrilled that the abhorrent practice of essay mills has been banned and we can only hope for a better future for higher education and the students.”

'Emmanuel Haruna' – SU President 2019/20

“Campaigning to see legislation against essay mills was one of my most precious projects in my two years as an Officer. Even though many initiatives were implemented around academic integrity during my time in office, essay mills still roamed free and unchecked and efforts from local institutions like ours were being undermined.

Through the collective efforts made by all the people involved, seeing the bill now passed into legislation gives me the utmost of Joy. I am so proud that as a Union, in collaboration with our institution - played a crucial role in leading this phenomenal change at a national level. Hopefully, other countries will follow suit, so that essay mills are completely rooted out within Higher Education globally. This change is one notable example of the amazing work Huddersfield Students’ Union have been doing to make student life better and is worth celebrating.”