A new plagiarism penalty might be in effect in the UK soon making students who plagiarize essays face a criminal record as well as fines. This move was part of the Department of Education to crack down on cheating students.

According to a report in The Telegraph, thousands of university students have paid as high as £6,750 to have someone write their essays for them. This is, of course, considered cheating because a student uses a third party to fulfill his academic requirements for him.

There are reportedly hundreds of these companies operating in the UK and abroad. In fact, the essay service industry is estimated to be worth around £100 million. Two essay mills in the UK have revealed that they have provided essays to more than 20,000 students every year. This means that a lot of students are getting a degree they didn't really earn in the first place.

Universities are having a dialogue with the government and are pushing for newer, stricter laws regarding the issue of plagiarism. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said that they are open to all kinds of proposals and are considering a change in laws in the future.

The said guideline will be effective in September in accordance with the new school year. Universities Minister Jo Johnson said that students using any of these online essay services are risking their future careers if caught.

Johnson also emphasized that such practice is unacceptable and is undermining the quality of higher education. He also encouraged universities to adopt stricter policies and sanctions to deal with the problem.

Ian Kimber, director of Qualities Assurance Agency, the universities regulator, said that these essay mills and the practice of buying pre-written essays online have become a major challenge to British universities. Therefore, making the act a criminal offense will deter this kind of academic dishonesty.