A recent study conducted by Prof Philip Newton at Swansea University’s medical school has highlighted that the use of "contract cheating" is experiencing a sharp rise throughout the world. The study calculated that as many as one in seven current students internationally have paid someone to produce their assignments, which could mean as high as 31 million students. Given that university students are now increasingly relying on essay-writing services to pay for coursework, the British government has been urged to create and implement legal measures that outlaw these services. There is little detail of the involvement of UK-based students; however, Philip Newton has warned that if the government fails to act, the UK risks "becoming a country where essay mills find it easy to do business."

On campus, staff members at British universities have confirmed that essay-writing services openly advertise for both clients and writers, whilst numerous websites offer students bespoke “study notes” or “essay aids” for a fee that can range up to thousands of pounds, depending on length and deadline. Furthermore, these essay writing services are found to trawl social media with automated accounts, specifically targeting students who post about deadlines for essays.

Newton is one of a number of British academics who have warned of the dangers associated with "essay mills" where students are able to order essays, dissertations, or even doctoral theses with as little as eight or 12 hours’ notice. Over 2,000 people have already petitioned parliament, calling for the banning of such services.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Education, analysed 71 survey samples from 65 studies from back as far as 1978, covering 54,000 participants that took part in questionnaires asking if they had ever paid someone to undertake their work. The study found that contract cheating was self-reported by a long-run average of 3.5% of students, and that rate was found to increase significantly over time. In studies from 2014 onwards, the percentage admitting to paying for work rose to nearly 16%, and cheating in general seems to be increasing rapidly.

The British Government has acknowledged the issue. Meanwhile, Newton and his colleagues have proposed a new offence "to provide or advertise cheating services," including writing or arranging an essay or other work without the approval of the higher education institution requiring the work.