It has been fifteen years since pioneering British computer programmer, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, created the protocols which power the World Wide Web. But could he have ever imagined how much the web would transform our lives?

And would he approve of how some British students are taking advantage of his invention?

Universities and exam boards around the UK are becoming increasingly concerned with the rising number of cases of plagiarism, many of which are facilitated by internet access.

In the UK most school and university students complete coursework throughout the academic year which contributes towards their final mark. In many cases coursework makes up the bulk of the qualification. Since coursework is completed in the student’s own time it cannot be monitored by teachers in the same way as an exam.

Derec Stockley, director of examinations in the UK, explains, “Plagiarism affects coursework more than external exam conditions, and in the cases that come to our attention, more and more are linked to the internet.

At a university level recent reports suggest that plagiarism has evolved from isolated cases of individual cheating to a systematic and even commercial operation. Students can now pay for bespoke essays to be written for them by experts.

It is estimated that the market in online plagiarism is now worth ￡200 million a year. Every month more and more websites offering to write students’ essays for them appear on the internet.

Barclay Littlewood, owner of Degree Essays UK employs 3,500 specialist writers and charges between ￡120 and ￡4,000 per essay. However, Mr Littlewood refutes the accusation that he is helping students to cheat.

He says that although students receive an essay that answers their exact question, “They then have to go and do their research outside our piece, formulate their own opinions , look at their own reference and write the creative and original piece which is distant from ours."