AI use near-universal among UK undergraduates, but students are divided on whether it helps them learn
New HEPI survey of more than 1,000 students finds generative AI embedded in daily study, while researchers warn that skills gaps and inequality risks are being overlooked.
Generative AI has moved from novelty to near-universal use among full-time undergraduates in the UK in under three years, according to new research from the Higher Education Policy Institute, though students remain divided on whether the tools are helping them learn or simply making it easier to avoid learning at all. The Student Generative AI Survey 2026, the third annual edition from HEPI and sponsored by digital textbook platform Kortext, was conducted in December 2025 among 1,054 full-time UK undergraduates. Its findings show that adoption has accelerated sharply, with close to half of res