AI has made it ‘close to impossible’ to assess university coursework, regulator says
Office for Students says institutions in England should return to traditional exams and in-person presentations Universities should go back to traditional exams and in-person presentations to grade students after lecturers complained that AI has made it “close to impossible” to assess coursework, according to an investigation by England’s higher education regulator. The Office for Students (OfS)…
The Office for Students (OfS) in England has declared that universities should return to traditional exams and in-person presentations to assess students, due to concerns that AI has made it "close to impossible" to grade coursework, according to a regulator's investigation. The credibility of degrees from England's universities is at risk due to the widespread use of AI in essays, dissertations, and "open book" exams, with students reporting that their peers frequently used AI undetected by staff.
Josh Fleming, director of strategy and delivery at the OfS, warned that AI use in higher education poses a "generational risk" to the current system, threatening to undermine students' learning and institutions' ability to evaluate them. To tackle these risks, Fleming emphasized the need for "far greater efforts" and a greater use of AI-free assessment.
The regulator stated that institutions must design "valid and reliable measures of students' knowledge and skills" to combat AI, or risk breaching their conditions of registration and facing sanctions.
Institutions in England have already begun redesigning their assessment methods to reduce potential AI misuse. These include a higher use of in-person written exams or oral examinations (vivas), students critiquing or editing AI-generated output, and "process-based" assessments where students detail their research and production process. The OfS also noted that many universities have already implemented such measures to mitigate the risks associated with AI.
A survey conducted by the OfS and Advance HE, a charity promoting university governance and teaching, interviewed more than 300 students and staff at 127 universities and colleges. The survey found that AI use in higher education was prevalent, with students reporting that their peers completed assessments using AI in a matter of minutes, often receiving similar grades to those who completed assessments without AI.
Academic staff expressed concerns that some assessments may be unfit for purpose, and that pervasive use of AI could render the assessment of students "close to impossible" in certain areas. Students described their peers admitting to using AI to complete assessments, only to receive good grades without being caught. Academics also reported receiving large numbers of submissions that looked identical, referencing the same literature and written in the same style.
Others believed that the existing assessments were not fit for purpose or failed to accurately measure students' knowledge and skills.
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