Students passing university assessments in minutes using AI, regulator warns

Too many university students can use AI to complete assessments without staff finding out, the higher education regulator in England has said. The Office for Students (OfS) said "a significant proportion" of assessments are unsupervised and many can be completed to a high standard with AI, sometimes in minutes. It said this posed a "significant risk" to their credibility, and closed-book and practical exams were the most effective forms of assessments.

Universities that do not meet OfS quality standards could soon be banned from charging increased tuition fees or have caps imposed on their student numbers, under proposals that are now being consulted on. The new research from the OfS and Advance HE, a charity that gives awards for teaching excellence, is based on the views of 244 higher education staff and 91 students from at least 127 universities. It said "a significant proportion of assessments" were in "unsupervised, non-controlled formats where AI can be accessed by students completing them".

Unsupervised assessment can include coursework, but also remote online exams.