A 2025 survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) discovered that the number of students who use AI has drastically risen from 66% in 2024 to 92% this year. The rapid increase in the use of artificial intelligence in education has prompted universities to reassess their teaching and learning strategies.
Undergraduate students have also adopted artificial intelligence tools in various capacities, such as generating text, enhancing their writing, summarizing text, explaining complex concepts, and much more.
With the rise in the use of AI in education, HEPI advises universities to improve the AI literacy of their staff and design a system of balance rather than punish students for using AI tools.
AI adoption among students
The results of the 2025 survey conducted by HEPI show that 88% of the 1041 surveyed full-time undergraduates have employed generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools for assessments. This figure is a measurable increase from the 53% observed in the same survey conducted last year.
Janice Kay, the director of Higher Futures, a higher education consultancy, who wrote the foreword to the HEPI report, said that while it was a “positive sign overall” that students were learning to use AI, it also spelt challenges for academic institutions. “There is little evidence here that AI tools are being misused to cheat and play the system. [But] there are quite a lot of signs that will pose serious challenges for learners, teachers and institutions, and these will need to be addressed as higher education transforms,” she said.
The survey showed that students studying science subjects are more likely to use AI than their peers in the social sciences and humanities.
Only 29% of students studying humanities courses felt that AI-generated content “would get a good grade in my subject.” Meanwhile, 45% of students studying for science, engineering, or medical-related degrees feel the opposite.
Students use AI for various tasks, including explaining complex concepts, summarizing articles, and generating research ideas. However, 18% of the surveyed students have directly incorporated AI-generated text into their assignments. Some students believe it is acceptable to incorporate AI-generated text into their assessments after they edit it. The proportion of such students has risen from 17% to 25%.
Students primarily use AI tools to save time and improve the quality of their work, which are not inherently bad applications of the technology. However, the concern is about the reliability of these tools. Convenient as it is, AI technology is not perfect and often makes mistakes. These tools can also provide false or biased information to the students who use them for assessments.
Notably, female students express greater concern about these issues compared to their male counterparts. The possibility of being accused of academic misconduct also deters some students from using AI.
There is a gender divide in the use of AI. Male students are 14% more likely to have experience using AI at school. Wealthier students and those enrolled in STEM courses also show higher enthusiasm for the use of AI tools and are more likely to leverage them for their assessments.
Some students are unsure about the rules for AI usage in their schoolwork. “It’s still all very vague and up in the air if/when it can be used and why,” one student said. “They dance around the subject. It’s not banned but not advised; it’s academic misconduct if you use it, but lecturers tell us they use it. Very mixed messages,” added another.
This trend of AI adoption is not isolated to higher education, as nearly half (45%) of the surveyed students reported using AI during their secondary education. The reliance on artificial intelligence is partly caused by this early exposure to the technology, and higher education staff are concerned that this reliance is “crowding out critical thinking.”
Institutional measures to regulate AI use
In response to the overwhelming adoption of AI, educational institutions have explored policies against the use of artificial intelligence tools for assessments and other school-related tasks.
80% of students acknowledge that their institutions have established clear AI policies compared to 64% of students last year.
In 2024, only 32% of the 1,250 students surveyed acknowledged that their school had changed the way it assessed them. This year, the number of students who agree that the method of assessment has changed is up to 59%.
76% of students believe that their universities are capable of detecting AI usage in assessments even though most AI detection tools are unreliable and frequently generate false positives.
67% of the surveyed students believe it is essential to be able to use AI effectively, considering the rapid adoption of the technology in everyday life, but only 36% of students have received any support from their institutions to develop AI-related skills.
The skill of staff members with AI tools, on the other hand, has shown considerable progress. 42% of students agree that the staff are well-equipped to assist with AI. Only 18% of students felt that the staff had any skill with AI tools in 2024.
In 2024, HEPI ran a poll of 1,250 students and discovered that the use of generative AI had become normalized in higher education and that academic institutions had so far prevented an epidemic of AI-based academic misconduct. For this year’s survey, Josh Freeman, policy manager at HEPI, is certain that the rapid uptake of AI among students would force a change in the approach universities employ with students.
“There are urgent lessons here for institutions. Every assessment must be reviewed in case it can be completed easily using AI. That will require bold retraining initiatives for staff in the power and potential of generative AI,” he said.
The HEPI report advises institutions to remain conscious of assessment practices and improve their AI literacy, especially as AI technology continues to develop and students’ proficiency with AI tools increases.
However, the report also encouraged universities to recognize that students’ use of AI is “inevitable and often beneficial” and have their policies reflect that. The report also mentions that institutions should work together to design “effective teaching and learning strategies.”
A study titled “Higher Education Assessment Practice in the Era of Generative AI Tools” also emphasizes the necessity for educators to reassess the existing assessment processes, as Gen AI tools have advanced beyond traditional evaluation methods.
The study also recommends that higher education institutions develop stricter policies surrounding the use of AI, reevaluate learning objectives, and adjust the curricula to align with the times.
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