No degree for student who copied from the internet

A new row over exam cheating erupted today after a student was told he would get no marks for his essays because he copied them from the internet.

The University of Kent at Canterbury has told 21-year-old Michael Gunn he will leave with nothing after a three-year English literature-course - except £11,000 in debts. But he has hit back, accusing the university of allowing him to complete three years of study and giving good marks for the essays it now says are worthless. He is planning to sue the university in the hope of recovering some of his student debt.

Mr Gunn, from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, said: "I can see there is evidence that I broke the rules. But they've taken all my money for three years and pulled me up the day before I finished. If they had pulled me up with my first essay at the beginning and warned me of the problems and consequences, it would be fair enough. But all my essays were handed back with good marks."

Mr Gunn's father, Leonard, said one tutor told his son: "Everybody does this. You're the unlucky one. You got caught."

He was "appalled" at the way his son was told.

"The university emailed him the day before he took his final exam, telling him he wasn't going to get a degree.

"They advised him not to take his final exam because there was no point. But he did anyway. He was so distraught we were worried that he was going to kill himself.

"Of course he knew what he was doing. One of his tutors told him everybody did it and that he was just the tip of the iceberg.

"They must have known what was going on but they were happy to take his fees all that time. Now he has been put in an impossible position. Ask yourself who is going to employ him now that this has come out."

Michael's mother, Elaine Gunn, said: "Where is the fairness in the way the university has treated him?"

A spokesman for the university said today it could not discuss Mr Gunn's case. Examiners meet next week to take final decisions on degree awards.

But the spokesman said: "All students are given information as to what constitutes plagiarism and what the consequences can be."