Students passing university assessments in minutes using AI, regulator warns
Summary
England’s higher education regulator said many university assessments are unsupervised and can be completed to a high standard with AI, sometimes in minutes. The regulator warned this could weaken the reliability of assessments and called for more AI-free or redesigned assessments; Universities UK said many institutions are already changing their approach.Key Facts
- The Office for Students (OfS) and Advance HE based their research on the views of 244 higher education staff and 91 students from at least 127 universities.
- The research found that students can sometimes use AI in ways staff cannot reliably detect.
- Unsupervised assessments include coursework and remote online exams; a cited study found 93 UK universities still use remote exams in some form.
- The OfS said closed-book and practical exams were among the most effective assessment formats.
- The OfS reported cases where students completed entire assessments within minutes using AI and received grades similar to those of other students.
- The research said students need clear guidance on when AI use is allowed and called for remote or non-secure assessments to remain valid despite AI access.
- Universities UK said institutions were adding in-person exams, presentations, oral exams, process-based assessments and controlled uses of AI.
- Under proposals being consulted on, universities that fail to meet OfS quality standards could face tuition-fee restrictions or limits on student numbers.
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