Paying for proofreading students' work

by: Romany Howes (5 August 2014)

There's been a murmur in the press recently about the ethicality of university students paying to have their work checked by professional proofreaders and grammar specialists.

Firstly, there is a huge difference between writing an essay and checking it. And this seems to be the crux of the argument. There are companies around who promise (for a hefty fee) to write a student’s work, whether it be an end-of-year essay or a final dissertation. Rumour has it that an unsuspecting Oxford tutor worked freelance for one such company. He wrote a PhD-standard essay on his specialised subject and was paid a princely sum. However, when to his horror, his dissertation, word for word, was handed in by one of his undergraduate students, he took action and reported the practice.

All about the money?

Secondly, students now have to pay for tuition. If they are forking out £9,000 a year in tuition fees, then why shouldn't they pay someone to proofread their work? The fact is that not everyone is academically brilliant when it comes to spelling, not even those who should be: The Guardian (aka the Grauniad) is still living down its nickname from Private Eye because of its reputation for spelling mistakes. Some students need help in spelling and grammar to present their work and get the best marks possible. They may be excellent nuclear physicists or mechanical engineers with the knowledge of their subject matter exemplary in their heads. But getting it down on paper may be a struggle for them. So that's where proofreading services are useful.

Proof positive

There are numerous companies out there, including Writeitclearly.com who offer a proofreading service for students. This is a grammatical and proofreading service, not a writing service. We check the work ALREADY WRITTEN and make amendments accordingly. We do not change, add or alter content.

Overseas students

The majority of our clients are overseas students, with English their non-native language. They want to present their written work to reflect the knowledge they have attained during their studies in the UK. After all, they were accepted onto their academic course for their ability and potential to complete it successfully but with limited written English ability, their work is often misinterpreted and accordingly marked down.

Am I defending using proofreading services? Absolutely. Small and big businesses use us, government agencies use us, dyslexic people use us. Finally, we number among our clients, universities and academic establishments who want their websites (encouraging students to apply for courses) to be checked for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. What's sauce for the goose . . .

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