‘Misleading’ advert for essay-writing service banned by watchdog over promoting cheating
The Advertising Standards Authority rules Oxbridge Essays website implied students could submit purchased essays with no risks
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An advert for an essay-writing website for students has been banned for promoting cheating.
The advertising watchdog has ruled that Oxbridge Essays “misleadingly” implied students could submit purchased essays from the website as their own without risks.
The company was also told by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to remove the misleading claim “the vast majority” of its writers were educated or had taught at Oxford or Cambridge.
A number of claims were included on the homepage of the website – including “it has never been easier to get the grades you wanted” and it was “100 per cent guaranteed plagiarism-free”.
The company argued the website advises customers its essays should be used only as a “personalised study guide” and they should not be submitted.
However, the ASA ruled the website did not make it “sufficiently clear” to consumers they could not hand in purchased essays as their own without ramifications.
Oxbridge Essays is one of a number of essay-writing websites, also commonly referred to as “essay mills”, which have been ordered to change their marketing in the past year.
In September, university leaders called on the government to make companies who offer essay-writing services to students illegal, amid fears that they are undermining the integrity of degrees.
The ruling comes on the same day applicants to Oxford are told if they have received an offer.
An Oxbridge Essays spokesperson said: “Like all businesses, we are constantly working on how we can improve our marketing messages to best reflect the product. With this in mind, we have made changes on our website to reflect some of the ASA’s findings.
“However, we did disagree with some of the ASA’s ruling and are in the process of appealing to the independent reviewer, Sir Hayden Phillips.
“It is worth noting that we do not condone academic cheating of any kind and our website makes it very clear how to use our service correctly.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments