For Virginia's students, there may be an extremely high price to pay

Founded by one of the fathers of the American republic and housed in grandiose buildings on sweeping green lawns, the University of Virginia is proud of its reputation and proud of the honour code which polices student behaviour.

That code is being tested in the most serious way.

After being alerted by a disgruntled student, the professor leading the class ran essays through a computer programme designed to detect plagiarism.

Consecutive words

The programme looks for work which contains the same six consecutive words or more.

Fifty hours and more than 1,800 essays later, the computer found up to 60 matches in some essays.

With the enormous increase in the amount of information on the internet and some sites dedicated to swapping and selling academic assistance, plagiarism has become a major concern throughout the US.

But for Virginia's students there may be an extremely high price to pay.

The university's honour code allows students effectively to police themselves, but punishment is extreme - students found guilty of copying work from others face expulsion or the revocation of previously awarded degrees.