Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of generative AI on academic standards in higher education.

Universities are independent, autonomous bodies responsible for designing and implementing their own artificial Intelligence (AI) policies. They are already responding to the opportunities and challenges AI presents.

The Office for Students (OfS) set out its approach to the use of AI in higher education (HE) in June 2025. The approach can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/embracing-innovation-in-higher-education-our-approach-to-artificial-intelligence/.

Providers are responsible for detecting and preventing academic misconduct, including misuse of AI, in line with the OfS’ regulatory framework. Providers that fall below these standards could be subject to regulatory action.

The government is committed to ensuring that AI is not used to undermine high academic standards in HE. As set out in the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department will support the OfS to assess the impact of artificial intelligence, including how students are using it in assessments, to ensure the integrity of HE assessments and qualifications is not compromised.