Regulator Warns Students Can Complete Assessments With AI in Minutes
England's higher education regulator says too many university assessments can be completed with AI without staff ever noticing. The warning arrives alongside proposals that could bring tougher penalties for universities that miss quality standards.
What the research found
The Office for Students (OfS) worked with Advance HE, a charity that gives awards for teaching excellence. Together they gathered the views of 244 higher education staff and 91 students from at least 127 universities.
Their conclusion is that a large share of assessments are unsupervised and run in formats where students can reach AI tools. Many can be finished to a high standard with limited engagement from the student. It was also frequently possible, the report says, to use AI in ways that cannot be reliably detected.
The OfS says this poses a significant risk to the credibility of those assessments.
Unsupervised assessment covers coursework, but also remote online exams. These spread widely during Covid, and research from Swansea University suggests 93 UK universities still keep them in some form.
Cases staff described
The OfS said it had heard of students completing entire assessments within minutes and getting grades similar to classmates who had not used AI.
Some staff reported piles of assignments that looked the same. They did not think their institution's assessments were fit for purpose. Others described a polarised atmosphere, with students who use AI on one side and students who avoid it on environmental or other grounds on the other.
Kathryn Harrison-Graves, deputy chief executive of Advance HE, said students wanted greater clarity about what is expected of them. Staff, she said, had varying levels of confidence and support.
What the regulator wants
The OfS singled out closed-book and practical exams as the most effective way to assess students. Josh Fleming, its director of strategy and delivery, said there were fantastic examples of universities seizing the opportunities AI presents. He still called for "far greater use of AI-free assessment".
The research also stresses AI literacy for students during and after university, and says some institutions already explain clearly where AI can and cannot be used. Remote assessments, it says, urgently need to keep their validity. In its words: "If it becomes possible to complete an assessment using AI without the knowledge and skills being tested, the assessment should be replaced."
Separately, universities that fail to meet OfS quality standards could soon be stopped from charging higher tuition fees or have their student numbers capped. Those proposals are now out for consultation.
How the sector answers
Universities UK, a body representing more than 140 institutions, said universities were making significant progress. A spokesperson pointed to in-person exams, presentations and vivas, as well as process-based assessment and tasks where AI is allowed under set rules. Different subjects, the spokesperson added, will need different approaches.
Lewis Wilson of the National Union of Students said AI threatens traditional methods such as essay questions, handouts and slideshows, which students and staff have long called unfit for purpose. He wants innovative practice designed together with students.
Source: BBC News