What's a 'Safe' Turnitin Similarity Score at a UK University?
There's no universal pass/fail percentage - but here's the realistic range UK markers expect and how to read your report properly.
Most UK students obsess over the headline percentage on a Turnitin report. That's the wrong number to fixate on. Examiners read the breakdown, not the total.
The realistic range
For most UK undergraduate essays, 10–25% similarity is normal once references, the bibliography, and common phrasing are stripped out. Anything under 10% on a referenced essay can actually look suspicious - it suggests under-citation.
What examiners actually check
Single high-match sources (one source >5%), matches to other student submissions, and unattributed matches in the body. A 30% report dominated by your reference list is fine; a 12% report with one 8% match to an essay-mill site is a misconduct case.
If you're worried
Our editors at TutorsGallery UK run a pre-submission Turnitin pass on every draft and rewrite any flagged passage - properly paraphrased and re-cited. It's the cheapest insurance you'll buy this term.
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