Oral ratings, more security checks, faster markings are all on the card as Generated Artificial Intelligence (AI) can transform the next generation of student exams.
The 2025 exam season is nearing the end as AI is already changing the landscape after GCSE students earned results on Thursday and took the exams primarily traditional pen and paper.
As exam preparation is revolutionizing, students are increasingly creating personal AI tutors, generating study materials around the clock to suit their individual needs that could lead to better results.
“With AI, students can ask questions they don't ask at class or strange times without being judged, which makes them much better understandable.
“It really took off this summer,” said Sandra Leaton Gray, professor of education futures at the University of London Institute of Education. “So they can talk about the marking frameworks they are using, they can upload them, and then they can run the sample answers themselves. And they can tell the AI: “How do you improve the answer?” It's like having a tireless tutor. ”
Others suggest that AI is rapidly developing, and that a whole new exam will be needed to test how effectively students are using it. Dr. Thomas Lancaster, a computer scientist at Imperial College London, specializes in generative AI, academic integrity and the educational use of student misconduct. “I think this type of exam is inevitable right now.”
Lancaster warned that AI will lead to new ways of cheating. “I think we need to see an increase in security checks for exams and more training for invisible writers that will help us find devices that are not banned,” he said.
“Currently, communication devices are as small as hidden earpieces, and there are more risks to AI-enabled smart glasses.”
Sir Ian Buckham, the lead regulator of the UK qualification watchdog, warned of the risks poses by AI to use extended writing coursework to assess student knowledge.
In an interview with the Guardian, he raised concerns about the qualifications for the expansion project, and students in independent research projects can take on it along with A-level, which is equivalent to half of A-level.
“I think it really has a place that matters, and sometimes universities tell us that they value it too,” he said. “So I wouldn't want to take intense action about it, but I'm worried about the extent to which AI will be used to support students in that qualification.
“I think anyone who wants to say that we should move away from wholesale testing systems from testing that can control the use of AI, will move into a much more difficult space to do that.
Rogoyski repeated his concerns. He said:
“Whether AI or human, the exam needs to be changed to focus on testing understanding of what is written. This means Vivas or discussion about the topic examined.”
He also warned that as students start using technology on a daily basis, early signs of AI addiction are occurring.
Regarding the possible benefits of AI to the testing system, Jill Duffy, chairman of the board of directors of the Qualifications Committee and CEO of the OCR Awards Award, said the examination committee is considering ways in which AI can speed up and improve the quality of markings.
One theory is that GCSE and A-level results can be provided within a month rather than two. OCR uses AI in its trials to turn handwritten answers into digital text to reduce insufficient handwritten delays. If successful, it means that students will be provided with a university location based on their qualifications rather than their predicted grades.
Duffy agreed that more vivas and other forms of oral evaluation are already being used in higher education. “If we saw it there, will it start going to school? We could see something like that,” she said.
Lancaster added: “Overall, the exam is here to stay in some way, but the form of that exam may be quite different from what it looks like now.”
