Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to issue guidance to schools and sixth forms on the use of artificial intelligence software in admissions for higher education courses.

The government is mindful of the rapid technological change in this area. The Office for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing an agile and adaptable regulatory framework for AI, which will use a test-and-learn approach to ensure their regulatory approach remains flexible and relevant.

The department works with the Office for AI and all those involved in the higher education (HE) admissions system to ensure that it remains fair, as well as to build an understanding of the potential risks posed to admissions by assistive tools such as Chat GPT and other forms of AI software.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) maintains confidence in the HE admissions system. One element of this is the operation of a dedicated verification team tasked with the prevention and detection of fraud in applications and similarity in personal statements.

UCAS has a responsibility to applicants, HE providers, and stakeholders to screen applications for false, missing and/or misleading information, check personal statements for patterns of similarity, and to report their findings in accordance with established processes. UCAS’ aim is to avoid anyone gaining from an unfair advantage and securing a place in a HE by deception.