Pupils have admitted to Ofqual’s boss that they use AI in their work but don’t tell their teachers, he has revealed as he asks exam boards to clamp down on cheating.
Ian Bauckham warned this week that, while detection rates are relatively low, there was “significant concern” among teachers and leaders about the “real extent” of artificial intelligence misuse in coursework.
Speaking at the FE Week Apprenticeships and Training Conference, he said students had admitted that they used AI.
He said: “When I talk to students and ask them to tell me the truth, not necessarily what they would tell their teacher, but quietly tell me whether they go on to AI when they’ve got a piece of work to do, they say ‘well actually yeah please don’t tell my teacher but yes I do’.
“It’s getting harder and harder to detect it.”
While most GCSE and A-levels are purely exam based now, some coursework remains. For examples, 20 per cent of history and English A-level marks are based on extended writing.
This can include essays of up to 4,000 words.
‘A more rigorous approach’ needed
Ofqual has been investigating the relationship between performance in exams and these longer-form essays.
Boards should now take a “more rigorous approach” to pupil and teacher authentication of work, Bauckham said in a letter to the four boards this week.
He also asked them to “to improve awareness of what constitutes misuse and to strengthen deterrence, detection and prevention measures”.
AI use in coursework “deprives students of that intended learning,” Bauckham said.
But he told the conference he had heard warnings not to “default to the easy option of taking [coursework] out.
“Because the process is such a powerful learning experience for so many young people, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
More pupils breach exam rules
Bauckham also said there had been a “noticeable long-term” rise in the number of students breaching exam rules.
During the past three years, almost half of the 5,000 malpractice cases have involved students taking phones or other communication devices into the halls.
He asked boards to “strengthen” their arrangements so they “can more effectively identify, control and reduce the incidence of this form of potential malpractice”.
The boards have until the end of the month to tell Bauckham their specific steps to respond to his concerns.
He will then evaluate their response and “see whether or not we need to take any further action”.
Where there is malpractice, he expects sanctions to “be fully used to give a strong signal that malpractice will not be tolerated”.
A Joint Council for Qualifications spokesperson said it would continue to work closely with schools to anticipate risks, strengthen controls and safeguard the exam system’s integrity.
“While malpractice is not widespread, we agree with Ofqual that evolving technologies demand continual review and adaptation of approaches to preventing and detecting malpractice.”
Exam aids to continue
Meanwhile, pupils sitting GCSEs in maths, physics and combined science from 2028 will continue to receive exam aids.
Introduced in 2022 to recognise the impact of the Covid pandemic on learning formula and equation sheets are given to pupils.
This has been repeatedly extended. The government confirmed in its response to the curriculum and assessment review that it would consider whether students should be required to memorise and recall each formula and equation, in reformed subjects from 2029 or 2030.
Until then, schools minister Georgia Gould said for the lifetime of these existing subjects students would not be required to memorise these for assessment purposes.
Ofqual has launched a three-week consultation on the adaptation.
On-screen exams push back
Also this week, AQA’s chief executive Colin Hughes warned that Ofqual’s proposal to initially limit digital exams to only two subjects per board was “unduly restrictive”.
Bauckham had said it was “important to start small” and that Ofqual would “have a very close eye to fairness” when assessing proposals.
But Hughes said this could be “counterproductive”.
Writing for Schools Week, he said: “It means that exam boards like AQA, that have been developing and trialling digital exams for a number of years, will be inhibited in building that all-important base of evidence and experience.
“We would like the regulator to reconsider this two-subject limit, so that we can pilot a broader range of exams and subjects in a wider mix of schools – some in wealthier areas, some in poorer areas.
“That’s how we’ll build our understanding of subject design and delivery, and thereby maximise the benefits of examining on-screen.”
A consultation on the plans closed yesterday (Thursday).
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