Lack of both time and money has driven Cambridge University students to work for Oxbridge Essays, a company selling custom-written essays and dissertations. Although the university condemns the practice as "cheating", it remains an attractive source of income for students, who can earn up to £500 per assignment.

The university's strict regulations regarding part time employment - which prevents students from working more than two hours a week - mean that many undergraduates struggle financially. According to Varsity, the Cambridge University student newspaper, essay-writing for cash is widespread, with over 500 Cambridge students and alumni working for Oxbridge Essays alongside others from Oxford University.

According to the Oxbridge Essays website, the essays are intended to provide a "model and perfect example of academic research" to be used only as guidance and inspiration, leading the service to claim that its practice is “fully legal and fully plagiarism free.”

Despite the site's disclaimer, one anonymous Oxbridge Essays employee told Varsity that "you know" what the essay will be used for. She said: “They [Oxbridge Essays] do have this legal loophole but everyone knows what really happens to the essays we write. And that’s why they keep their clients anonymous; to cover themselves.

“I know it’s unethical, but it is so expensive in Cambridge. I don’t think I’m cheating. I’m making good money to improve my writing.”

Oxbridge Essays considers its work no different from that of private tutors whose legality is not questioned, and demands to be treated on equal terms. A spokesperson for the company claimed that student's allegations were "all pure speculation based on no evidence."

According to Varsity, the university’s board of graduate studies is looking to modify its existing plagiarism clause in order to prohibit this, calling the scheme “an attempt to deliberately degrade the academic integrity of the university.”