Majority of adults oppose use of AI to mark coursework
While many were opposed to its use in marking students’ work, 59% of respondents backed teachers using AI for school admin tasks, such as lesson planning
The majority of the public oppose teachers using AI for marking coursework, according to a new survey.
The survey of 2,221 UK adults for Cambridge University Press and Assessment found that approximately two thirds (62%) of UK adults opposed teachers using AI to mark coursework, and only 27% supported this.
While many were opposed to its use in marking students’ work, 59% of respondents backed teachers using AI for school admin tasks, such as lesson planning, and 31% opposed it.
Some 89% of those polled were against students using AI to entirely complete their school coursework, and only 5% think this is acceptable.
Respondents were divided on whether students should use AI to improve the punctuation and grammar of their coursework, with 46% in favour and 44% against.
Only 16% of UK adults supported reducing or removing coursework completed at home as the best way for schools to avoid student AI misuse.
In addition, 52% think responsible use of AI should be added to the secondary school curriculum, though only 34% support adding it to the primary school curriculum.
These findings come just weeks after new guidance on the use of generative AI in schools from the Department for Education, as well as reports from The Sutton Trust and Teacher Tapp on the inconsistent uptake of AI in schools.
Jill Duffy, chief executive of Cambridge’s UK exam board OCR, said: “AI is already in our schools and is not going away. A coordinated national strategy, with funding to ensure no schools are left behind, will build public confidence in its transformational potential.
“The public is clear that coursework is too important to lose, even in the age of AI. It enables us to test different skills, and to reduce the intense volume of exams taken at 16. 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.”