Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is clear guidance on the use of the plagiarism checker technology Turnitin by those universities that validate degrees from private and independent colleges.

Higher education providers, as autonomous organisations, are responsible for handling matters of this nature, including developing and implementing policies to detect and discourage plagiarism.

Although the government does not provide guidance on, or advocate the use of, plagiarism software to help providers tackle the issue of plagiarism, we asked the Quality Assurance Agency, Universities UK and the National Union of Students to produce new guidance, which was published in October 2017 (see attached document).

This guidance is the first set of comprehensive advice for providers and students on the subject. It makes clear that where providers are working with others to deliver programmes, such as through validation, care should be taken to ensure that partner organisations are taking the risks of academic misconduct seriously. Providers are also encouraged to consider steps to scrutinise potential partners' processes and regulations when developing validation arrangements. This is in line with the wider expectations set out in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which all providers must meet. This establishes the fundamental principle that degree awarding bodies have ultimate responsibility for academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities, regardless of where these opportunities are delivered and who provides them. Further information can be found at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code.

Going forward I expect the Office for Students to encourage and support the sector to implement strong policies and sanctions to address this important issue in the most robust way possible.