Newcastle University has expelled two students found to have cheated on their assignments by using essay writing service MyMaster, which has now closed.

Their investigation uncovered 31 international students had used the website service, 24 of those students received a fail grade for courses completed in 2014 for 51 breaches, indicating the students used the cheating service for more than one course.

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Students who had committed multiple breaches were either suspended or expelled, the university confirmed.

The university’s investigation was prompted by an award winning report in the Sydney Morning Herald which exposed MyMaster and lead to its closure.

The report showed that about 1000 students at 16 universities in New South Wales had engaged MyMaster to write essays for them or take online tests on their behalf.

Students at Macquarie requested 128 assignments and 43 are being investigated, according to the report.

Other universities are still conducting investigations including Sydney Uni, University of NSW and University of Technology Sydney.