Why an investigation into cheating on Ontario bar exams may point to a $15 billion online industry

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Hundreds of prospective Ontario lawyers have had their futures put on hold amid an investigation into cheating on the online bar admission exams. That's no surprise in the lucrative world of “contract cheating,” experts say.

Feeling pressure to pass the Ontario bar exam, a would-be lawyer looking for advice messaged someone on Facebook about an offer to share “resources.”“I can help you ... if interested,” read the post from someone claiming to work for the National Committee on Accreditation, a Canadian legal advisory group involved in law school admissions.

The team of investigators is also looking for evidence that some already licensed Ontario lawyers may have cheated on their tests, which shifted online due to the pandemic in June 2020; the investigation is looking only at the tests after the change. Saturday’s announcement said the rescheduled exams will be “paper-based and held in-person in Toronto.”

This comes as no surprise to experts who study the global explosion of the “contract cheating” industry. At essayshark.com, topic suggestions include the health differences between vegans and meat-eaters, the effects of radiation sickness in the Hiroshima bombing, or, for more eclectic subject matter, why the themes of the Netflix hit “Squid Game” are essential today.

In addition to essay-for-hire services, online operators “prey” on students purporting to sell insider information, such as questions and answers to an exam. They use social media, such as TikTok, Instagram, and other “spaces, where profs, and people my age, the Gen Xers, we aren’t there,” said Eaton.

Cheating has risen across the global higher education sector during the pandemic, wrote Amanda McKenzie, of the Academic Integrity Council of Ontario, in an email.

 

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