Nearly 90% of adults consider it ‘unacceptable’ to complete school assignments entirely using AI, study finds
July 2025 - Education
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Nearly 90% of adults consider it ‘unacceptable’ to complete school assignments entirely using AI, study finds: Almost nine in ten (89%) adults are against students using AI to complete their school coursework. However, other uses for AI in education have split opinions. Nearly half (46%) of adults are for students using AI to enhance their grammar and punctuation, whereas 44% are against it.
Cambridge University Press and Assessment commissioned YouGov to conduct a poll to gather the public’s opinion on uses of AI in education. 2,221 UK adults were surveyed and opinions were divided.
The public also have differing thoughts on AI use by teachers. Nearly three fifths (59%) of respondents believe it is acceptable for teachers to use AI for admin tasks such as lesson planning, 31% disagree. Yet, roughly two thirds (62%) of adults deem it improper for teachers to use AI to mark coursework, with just over one quarter (27%) who support it.
The survey also contained findings around how the public think we can solve the problem of AI use by students in education. One proposed solution to reduce AI use was to remove or restrict coursework completed at home, however only 16% support this. The idea of adding responsible use of AI to the secondary school curriculum had more backing, with just over half (52%) supporting this. However, there was less support for educating younger children about AI usage, with only 34% agreeing it should be added to the primary school curriculum.
Jill Duffy, chief executive of Cambridge’s UK exam board OCR, remarked on the report’s findings and highlighted the importance of retaining and evolving the tradition of coursework to ensure it fits within the modern day education landscape: “The public is clear that coursework is too important to lose, even in the age of AI… These findings should be seen as a challenge to all of us in education: find a way to adapt coursework so it is fit for the AI century”.
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