England's university regulator backs exams over AI-written coursework

single source· 1 articles · confidence: medium · first seen 2026-11-11 07:00 UTC

What this means for you

Nothing to act on. This is guidance to universities in England, not a model, a product or a regulation — the piece carries no date by which anything must change and no consequence for institutions that keep coursework-based assessment.

England's higher education regulator has recommended that universities return to traditional exams and in-person presentations, after lecturers told its investigation that coursework can no longer be reliably assessed. The Office for Students said the credibility of English degrees is under threat from AI use in essays, dissertations and open-book exams, and that students reported peers boasting of using AI undetected by staff. The recommendation is not a rule, and the article gives no timetable, no enforcement mechanism and no estimate of how much assessed work is affected.

Key facts

  • ·The Office for Students is the higher education regulator for England. source
  • ·The OfS recommended that universities return to traditional exams and in-person presentations for grading. source
  • ·The recommendation followed lecturers' complaints to the regulator's investigation that AI had made coursework assessment close to impossible. source
  • ·The OfS named essays, dissertations and open-book exams as the assessment formats affected. source
  • ·The article was published on 11 November 2026. source

What the sources say

  • The Guardian AI — Reports the English regulator's investigation and its recommended shift to supervised, in-person assessment.

Sources

The original reporting. Follow these — they did the work.

← the wire