England's higher education regulator has warned that the credibility of degrees from England's universities is under threat from the prolific use of AI in essays, dissertations and open-book exams, urging institutions to return to traditional exams and in-person presentations to assess students.
A university staff member said pervasive use of AI may render assessment of students close to impossible in some areas, while students reported that peers boasted of using AI undetected. The regulator warned that failing to design valid and reliable measures of students' knowledge and skills to combat AI could breach universities' conditions of registration and lead to sanctions.
Josh Fleming, the director of strategy and delivery at the OfS, said AI use in higher education 'presents a generational risk to the system as it stands, threatening to undermine students' learning and institutions' ability to assess them'. He added: 'We need to see far greater efforts to tackle these risks, including far greater use of AI-free assessment.'
The findings come from a report by the OfS and Advance HE, a charity promoting university governance and teaching, which interviewed more than 300 students and staff at 127 universities and colleges this year to gauge AI policies and use in teaching and assessment.
One academic told researchers: 'AI has put academic integrity at serious risk … coursework is now overwhelmingly written in part, or exclusively, with the help of AI.' Another university staff member said: 'I think we're realising that a number of our assessments may be unfit for purpose, and that pervasive use of AI may render our assessment of students close to impossible in some areas.'
The survey found that students said their colleagues completed assessments using AI 'sometimes in just a few minutes' and received similar grades to those who had completed an assessment without AI. 'Some students described their peers being unable to recall basic details about the assessment they had just submitted,' the report noted.
One student told researchers: 'I've had people admit, peer to peer, "I wrote this whole essay with ChatGPT" … then they don't get caught, they get a good grade probably, and then because it worked the first time, they do it on their next assessment.'
Academics also described receiving large numbers of submissions that looked the same, referenced the same literature and were written in the same style. Others said they believed the assessments used by their institution were not fit for purpose or did not accurately measure students' knowledge and skills.
The OfS said many institutions had already redesigned how they assessed students to reduce potential AI misuse, including greater use of in-person written exams or oral examinations known as vivas. Other examples include students critiquing or editing AI-generated output, or process-based assessments where students detail how they researched and produced their work.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We expect universities to take this issue seriously and we expect the OfS to both enforce the existing standards effectively, and work at pace to ensure its regulatory framework is explicit, strong and durable on the use of AI.'
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Tens of thousands of students in England could be awarded degrees that do not genuinely reflect their knowledge or skills, undermining the value of qualifications for employers and further study.
- The regulator's warning of potential sanctions signals a major shift in expectations for universities, which may need to overhaul assessment methods across most subjects.
- The findings highlight a growing gap between how students and staff experience AI in education, with students reporting undetected cheating that appears to go unpunished.
Background
The Office for Students is the independent regulator of higher education in England. Its investigation comes as generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have become widely available to students since late 2022. Universities have been grappling with how to integrate AI into teaching while preserving academic integrity. The OfS and Advance HE conducted interviews at 127 institutions this year to assess the scale of the challenge.
Key Perspectives
Office for Students: says AI use presents a 'generational risk' to the system, threatening to undermine students' learning and institutions' ability to assess them, and calls for far greater use of AI-free assessment.
Academic (anonymous): says course work is now 'overwhelmingly written in part, or exclusively, with the help of AI', putting academic integrity at serious risk.
Another staff member (anonymous): says 'pervasive use of AI may render our assessment of students close to impossible in some areas'.
Student (anonymous): reports peers admitting to writing essays with ChatGPT, not getting caught, receiving good grades, and continuing to use AI on subsequent assessments.
Department for Education: expects universities to take the issue seriously and expects the OfS to enforce existing standards effectively and work to make its regulatory framework explicit, strong and durable on AI use.
What to Watch
- Whether the OfS imposes sanctions on any institution for failing to redesign assessments, and which universities are first to face regulatory action.
- The extent to which universities move back to traditional in-person exams and oral vivas, and how this affects student experience and workload.
- Further data from the OfS or Advance HE on whether AI-detection tools or process-based assessments prove effective in practice.
Checked
11 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe OfS warned that AI use threatens the credibility of degrees from England’s universities.UK news | The Guardian: “The Office for Students (OfS) said the credibility of degrees from England’s universities was under threat from the prolific use of AI”
- SupportedThe OfS says universities should return to traditional exams and in-person presentations to assess students.UK news | The Guardian: “Universities should go back to traditional exams and in-person presentations to grade students”
- SupportedThe OfS said AI was being used prolifically in essays, dissertations and open-book exams, with students reporting that peers boasted of using it undetected.UK news | The Guardian: “the prolific use of AI in essays, dissertations and “open book” exams, with students reporting that their peers boasted of using AI undetected by staff.”
- SupportedJosh Fleming said AI presents a generational risk that threatens students’ learning and institutions’ ability to assess them.UK news | The Guardian: “AI use in higher education “presents a generational risk to the system as it stands, threatening to undermine students’ learning and institutions’ ability to assess them”.”
- SupportedFleming said there should be greater efforts to tackle the risks, including greater use of AI-free assessment.UK news | The Guardian: ““We need to see far greater efforts to tackle these risks, including far greater use of AI-free assessment.””
- SupportedThe OfS warned that failing to design valid and reliable measures of students’ knowledge and skills could breach registration conditions and lead to sanctions.UK news | The Guardian: “failing to design “valid and reliable measures of students’ knowledge and skills” to combat AI could breach their conditions of registration and lead to sanctions being imposed.”
- SupportedThe report interviewed more than 300 students and staff at 127 universities and colleges this year.UK news | The Guardian: “interviewed more than 300 students and staff at 127 universities and colleges this year”
- SupportedAn academic told researchers that coursework was now overwhelmingly written in part or exclusively with AI’s help.UK news | The Guardian: ““AI has put academic integrity at serious risk … coursework is now overwhelmingly written in part, or exclusively, with the help of AI.””
- SupportedA university staff member said pervasive AI use may make assessment close to impossible in some areas.UK news | The Guardian: ““I think we’re realising that a number of our assessments may be unfit for purpose, and that pervasive use of AI may render our assessment of students close to impossible in some areas.””
- SupportedA student told researchers that peers admitted to writing an essay with ChatGPT, getting a good grade, and repeating the approach.UK news | The Guardian: ““I’ve had people admit, peer to peer, ‘I wrote this whole essay with ChatGPT’ … then they don’t get caught, they get a good grade probably, and then because it worked the first time, they do it on their next assessment.””
- SupportedThe Department for Education spokesperson said universities should take the issue seriously and the OfS should enforce standards and strengthen its framework on AI.UK news | The Guardian: ““We expect universities to take this issue seriously and we expect the OfS to both enforce the existing standards effectively, and work at pace to ensure its regulatory framework is explicit, strong and durable on the use of AI.””