Academic Misconduct
The University has Regulations define 'academic misconduct' as follows:
Academic misconduct are acts or omissions by a student which give or have the potential to give an unfair advantage in an examination or assessment, or might assist someone else to gain an unfair advantage, or an activity likely to undermine the integrity essential to scholarship and research. An advantage is unfair if it is, or intended to be, obtained by an act specifically disallowed in this Regulation, or if it goes against the principles of academic integrity underpinning this Regulation..
It is certainly the case that the internet has made plagiarism easier, but be aware that it has also made it easier to detect.
You are expected to be aware of the Regulations related to misconduct and abide by them: they are explained on the University pages on Academic Integrity. You will see from these regulations that the penalties can be severe, for example submitting a laboratory report for assessment that is not one's own work could result in a mark of zero for the complete laboratory module. You should be aware that helping someone else to gain an unfair advantage (e.g. by providing the laboratory report) will also be penalised. Please follow the link to see the Department's policy on handling suspected cases of plagiarism.
In each of the last three years penalties were exacted for submitting the work of another for assessment, and for assisting by providing the work that was submitted. One area where students are often unclear about where they stand relates to the weekly problems in year one and any assessed work associated with other modules. We encourage you to work with others on solving these problems as it is a good aid to learning, however you should write out your solution yourself away from your colleagues and not simply copy someone else's solution