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Plagiarism Woes

Hello.

I am a concerned parent of my daughter who is currently doing her O levels.
She is very worried for her English composition as she used the idea of a story she read from the books and implemented the idea into her composition. She mentions that she might have committed plagiarism.

I would want to know if the O level markers are able to spot her copying the idea and penalize her from doing this.

I would appreciate any comments that would put her mind at ease.

Thank you.

Reply 1

justinawe

19

Original post by soapbox123

Hello.

I am a concerned parent of my daughter who is currently doing her O levels.
She is very worried for her English composition as she used the idea of a story she read from the books and implemented the idea into her composition. She mentions that she might have committed plagiarism.

I would want to know if the O level markers are able to spot her copying the idea and penalize her from doing this.

I would appreciate any comments that would put her mind at ease.

Thank you.

I'm fairly certain that using ideas from sources such as books is fine, as long as she didn't outright copy from the book, word to word.

It's incredibly unlikely that the examiners will spot this anyway, if you plagiarise from a classmate or anyone else sitting for the the same examination, that is easily spotted. But from a book? Doubtful.

Reply 2

olympus123456

13

Original post by soapbox123

Hello.

I am a concerned parent of my daughter who is currently doing her O levels.
She is very worried for her English composition as she used the idea of a story she read from the books and implemented the idea into her composition. She mentions that she might have committed plagiarism.

I would want to know if the O level markers are able to spot her copying the idea and penalize her from doing this.

I would appreciate any comments that would put her mind at ease.

Thank you.

You should ask her to use Plagiarism checker - turnitin.com before submitting her assignments. The accepted percentage for plagiarism is 10-20 %.

Reply 3

justinawe

19

Original post by olympus123456

You should ask her to use Plagiarism checker - turnitin.com before submitting her assignments. The accepted percentage for plagiarism is 10-20 %.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're talking O-Levels here, not GCSEs. As far as I know, there is no coursework involved for O-Level English, just examinations. You can't exactly check your essays online during an examination, lol.

Reply 4

Howbeit

19

Original post by soapbox123

Hello.

I am a concerned parent of my daughter who is currently doing her O levels.
She is very worried for her English composition as she used the idea of a story she read from the books and implemented the idea into her composition. She mentions that she might have committed plagiarism.

I would want to know if the O level markers are able to spot her copying the idea and penalize her from doing this.

I would appreciate any comments that would put her mind at ease.

Thank you.

She only used an idea. At O levels I'm pretty sure they're only really looking for how well and coherently you write. I'm sure she'll be fine. As long as she didn't just copy the book...

Reply 5

soapbox123

OP

Original post by justinawe

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're talking O-Levels here, not GCSEs. As far as I know, there is no coursework involved for O-Level English, just examinations. You can't exactly check your essays online during an examination, lol.

Yes, it's just the O levels.

Reply 6

soapbox123

OP

Original post by RobertWhite

She only used an idea. At O levels I'm pretty sure they're only really looking for how well and coherently you write. I'm sure she'll be fine. As long as she didn't just copy the book...

If I'm not wrong, she used the idea, changed the plot slightly here and there and submitted it. Should it be still fine?

Reply 7

FlamingIceCube

9

O-Levels?

It's not the 70's anymore.....

Reply 8

Mr. Approachable

14

I thought O-Levels were outdated by about 30 years?

Reply 9

soapbox123

OP

Original post by Mr. Approachable

I thought O-Levels were outdated by about 30 years?

hmm? I don't think so.
Do you have any feedback on the current matter?

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 10

justinawe

19

Original post by FlamingIceCube

O-Levels?

It's not the 70's anymore.....

Original post by Mr. Approachable

I thought O-Levels were outdated by about 30 years?

Some exam boards like CIE still offer O-Levels.

Reply 11

justinawe

19

Original post by soapbox123

hmm? I don't think so.
Do you have any feedback on the current matter?

As I said before, it won't matter as long as she didn't write it word for word from the book. Which is near impossible anyway, as I doubt anyone would take the trouble to memorise an essay word for word.

Reply 12

Mr. Approachable

14

Original post by soapbox123

hmm? I don't think so.
Do you have any feedback on the current matter?

I would have thought she'd be fine. The software looks for similar passages in the writing, not ideas.

Reply 13

Howbeit

19

Original post by soapbox123

If I'm not wrong, she used the idea, changed the plot slightly here and there and submitted it. Should it be still fine?

Was it course work and did she write the story in her complete own words?

Reply 14

soapbox123

OP

Original post by RobertWhite

Was it course work and did she write the story in her complete own words?

No, it was written exam where she had to sit down and write a composition based on a topic set by the examiners. She mention she thought of the idea and used the idea in her composition.

Reply 15

Howbeit

19

Original post by soapbox123

No, it was written exam where she had to sit down and write a composition based on a topic set by the examiners. She mention she thought of the idea and used the idea in her composition.