Thousands of student nurses have been disciplined for cheating amid growing fears of online plagiarism.
Universities have been forced to punish more than 1700 nursing students in the past three academic years - prompting concerns patients are being put at risk.
A Freedom of Information request compiled by The Times shows the offences include plagiarism, collusion and impersonating other students.
Edinburgh Napier had the highest number of nursing students caught cheating than any of the 61 British universities questioned, with almost 300 students caught out.
However, less than five were referred for investigation by fitness-to-practice panels.
At the University of Dundee, 155 student nurses were found out - almost half of all students disciplined at the university.
Experts fear the figures may be the tip of the iceberg due to websites offering bespoke essays which make it harder for plagiarism software to detect.
Dr Thomas Lancaster, a plagiarism expert, said that "high hundreds or low thousands of nursing essays are bought every year in the UK".
He warned that the issue could have "potentially dangerous and fatal consequences" .
Nursing students are currently immune from investigation by regulatory body the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) until they are qualified.
The NMC relies on universities to enforce good conduct but very few students are expelled for cheating.
An NMC spokesman said: "There is no place for cheats in nursing and midwifery. It is the responsibility of academic institutions to ensure individuals have legitimately passed all parts of their course before they are awarded a qualification and can apply for registration."
Edinburgh Napier said it had more nursing students than any other provider in Britain.
A university spokesman said: "Often plagiarism owes much more to naivety than dishonesty and so we focus on educating students on good practice in their written work."
Dundee University insisted its anti-plagiarism measures were among the most robust of any UK university.
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