AI in the lecture hall: universities are still writing the rules
Generative AI is now near-universal among UK undergraduates. Institutional policy is struggling to keep pace, and the QAA is preparing a sector-wide assessment of how assessment itself is changing.
By Wistl Editorial · · Higher Ed
Every major UK university now has a generative AI policy. Most of them have been rewritten at least once since 2023. Some have been updated multiple times within the same academic year. The volatility is a reflection of the speed at which the technology is changing and the degree to which institutions are making policy without a clear evidence base about what responsible AI use in learning actually produces. What is already known from HEPI's Student Generative AI Survey 2026 (Report 199, based on 1,054 full-time undergraduates surveyed in December 2025 and sponsored by Kortext), is that adopti