This HEPI blog was authored by Isabelle Bristow, Managing Director UK and Europe at Studiosity.
In a HEPI blog published almost a year ago, Student Voices on AI: Navigating Expectations and Opportunities, I reported the findings of global research Studiosity commissioned with YouGov on students’ attitudes towards artificial intelligence (AI). The intervening year would be considered a relatively small time period in a more regular higher education setting. However, given the rapid pace of change within the Gen-AI sphere, this one year is practically aeons.
We have recently commissioned a further YouGov survey to explore the motivations, emotions, and needs of over 2,200 students from 151 universities in the UK.
Below, I will cover the top five takeaways from this new round of research, but first, which students are using AI?
- 64% of all students have used AI tools to help with assignments or study tasks.
- International student use (87%) is a staggering 27% higher than their domestic student counterparts (60%).
- There’s a 21% difference between students who identify as female who said they have never used AI tools for study tasks (42%) compared with those identifying as male (21%).
- Only 17% of students studying business said they have never used it, compared with 46% studying Humanities and Social Sciences.
- The highest reported use is by students studying in London at 78%, and conversely, the highest non-use was reported by students studying in Scotland at 44%.
The Top Five Takeaways:
- There is an 11% increase from last year in students thinking that their university is adapting fast enough to provide AI study support tools.
Following a year of global Gen-AI development and another year for institutions to adapt, students who believe their university is adjusting quickly enough remain in the minority this year at 47%, up from 36% in 2024. The remaining 53% of student respondents believe their institution has more to do.
When asked if they expect their university to offer AI support tools to students, the result is the same as last year – with 39% of students answering yes to this question. This was significantly higher for male students at 51% (up by 3% from last year) and for international students 61% (up by 4% from last year). Once again, this year, business students have the highest expectations at 58% (just 1% higher than last year). Following this, medicine (53%), nursing (48%) and STEM (46%) were more likely to respond ‘Yes’ when asked if they expect their university to provide AI tools.
- Some students have concerns over academic integrity.
When asked if they felt their university should provide AI tools, students who answered’ no’ were given a free text box to explain their reasoning. Most of these responses related to academic integrity.
‘I don’t think unis support its use because it helps students plagiarise and cheat.’
‘I think AI beats the whole idea of a degree, but it can be used for grammar correction and general fluidity.’
‘Because it would be unfair and result in the student not really learning or thinking for themselves.’
Only 7% of students said they would use an AI tool for help with plagiarism or referencing (‘Ask my lecturer’ was at 30% and ‘Use a 24/7 university online writing feedback tool’ was at 21%).
- Students who use AI regularly are less likely to rank ‘fear of failing’ as one of their top three study stresses
We asked all students – regardless of their AI use – of their top three reasons for feeling stressed about studying the responses were as follows:
- 61% of all UK students included ‘fear of failing’ in their top 3 reasons for feeling stressed about studying;
- 52% of all students included ‘balancing other commitments’; and
- 41% of all students included ‘preparing for exams and assessments’.
These statistics change when we filter by students who use AI tools to help with assignments or study tasks. Fear of failing is still the highest-ranked study stress. The percentage of respondents who rank fear of failing in their top three study stresses by AI use are as follows:
- 69% for those who never use AI;
- 62% for those who have used AI once or twice;
- 58% for those who have used AI a few times and;
- 50% for those who use AI regularly.
Looking at the main reasons students want to use the university’s AI service for support or feedback, this year, ‘confidence’ (25%) overtook ‘speed’ (16%). Female respondents, in particular, are using AI for reasons relating to confidence at 29%, compared to 20% for male students. International students valued ‘skills’ the most at 20%, significantly higher than their domestic student counterparts at 11%.
- Students who feel like they belong are more likely to use AI.
We examined the correlation between students’ sense of belonging in their university community, and the amount they use AI tools to help with assignments or study tasks.
For students who feel like they belong, 67% said they have used AI tools to help with assignments or study tasks; this compares with 47% for students who do not feel like they belong.
5. Cognitive offloading (using technology to circumvent the ‘learning element’ of a task) is a top concern of academics and institutional leadership in 2025. However, student responses suggest they feel they are both learning and improving their skills when using generative tools.
When asked if they were confident they are learning as well as improving their own skills when using generative tools, students responded as follows:
- 12% ‘were extremely confident that they were learning and developing skills;
- 31% were very confident;
- 29% were moderately confident;
- 26% were moderately confident; and
- Only 5% were not at all confident that this was true.
Conclusion:
Reflecting on the three years since Gen-AI’s disruptive entrance into the mainstream, the sector has now come to terms with the power, potential, and risks of Gen-AI. There is also a significantly better understanding of the importance of ensuring these tools enhance student learning rather than undermining it by offloading cognitive effort.
Leaders can look to a holistic approach to university-approved, trusted Gen-AI support, to improve student outcomes, experience and wellbeing.
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You can download the full Annual Global Student Wellbeing Survey – UK report here.
Studiosity is a HEPI Partner. Studiosity is AI-for-Learning, not corrections – to scale student success, empower educators, and improve retention with a proven 4.4x ROI, while ensuring integrity and reducing institutional risk. Studiosity delivers ethical and formative feedback at scale to over 250 institutions worldwide. With unique AI-for-Learning technology, all students can benefit from formative feedback in minutes. From their first draft to just before submission, students receive personalised feedback – including guidance on how they can demonstrably improve their own work and critical thinking skills. Actionable insight is accessible to faculty and leaders, revealing the scale of engagement with support, cohorts requiring intervention, and measurable learning progress.
