YouTube stars paid to help schoolkids cheat on their exams

A BBC investigation has uncovered that people are being paid to help students cheat in exams and their services are being advertised on YouTube. Photo / AP file

Academics labelled "super smart nerds" are being paid to help students cheat in exams and their services are being advertised and endorsed on YouTube, an investigation claims.

Popular YouTube stars are making money from publicising the service on the Ukraine-based channel EduBirdie, which is responsible for more than 1400 videos with a total of more than 700 million views.

The videos contain adverts promoting the controversial practice, according to a BBC probe.

The service gives students from around the globe the option of buying essays as opposed to completing the work themselves.

While the act of writing a piece of work is not illegal in itself, the penalties for students can be severe.

Sam Gyimah, Universities Minister for England, told the BBC: "It's clearly wrong because it is enabling and normalising cheating potentially on an industrial scale."

Another strand of the investigation revealed YouTube stars as young as 12 were being paid to endorse EduBirdie. Some tell students, "if you can't be bothered to do the work, EduBirdie has a 'super smart nerd' who will do it for you".

Depending on the popularity of the channels endorsing the service, the people running them can make hundreds of pounds for each advert, according to the BBC.

Among those to endorse EduBirdie have been stars such as Adam Saleh and British gamer JMX, who have four million and two and a half million subscribers respectively.

A 12-year-old girl who has 200,000 followers was also promoting service, but all three took their videos which contained the adverts down after the BBC contacted them.

Adverts litter the video platform, but are usually clearly marked or appear before a clip the user is trying to watch. However, these endorsements are different, with the promoters - the YouTube stars - breaking off from what they are covering to promote EduBirdie.

Some YouTubers promise the company will deliver A+ essays, while others allegedly say it will free up time to play video games or take drugs.

YouTube has said it would help creators understand they cannot promote dishonest behaviour, but Mr Gyimah said those involved should be "called out" for abusing their power as social influencers and said the video sharing platform "has a huge responsibility".

He told the BBC: "This is something that is corrosive to education and I think YouTube has got to step up to the plate and exercise some responsibility here."

The YouTube stars paid to promote cheating https://t.co/vDdSfn2Tcr

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 1, 2018

Around 30 of the channels were in Britain and Ireland. Shakira Martin, the President of the National Union of Students, said: "I think it's totally disgusting the fact that these type of organisations are exploiting vulnerable young people through getting them to promote something that isn't good, isn't ethical."

In a statement EduBirdie said: "We cannot be held responsible for what social influencers say on their channels.

"We give influencers total freedom on how they prefer to present the EduBirdie platform to their audience in a way they feel would be most relevant to their viewers.

"We do admit that many tend to copy and paste each others' shout-outs with a focus on 'get someone to do your homework for you', but this is their creative choice."

YouTube told the BBC: "YouTube creators may include paid endorsements as part of their content only if the product or service they are endorsing complies with our advertising policies."

They added: "We will be working with creators going forward so they better understand that in video promotions must not promote dishonest activity."