Students are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT amid ongoing chaos in university exam formats and financial stress.
The pandemic wrecked traditional exams. In 2020, GCSEs and A-levels got canceled and replaced with teacher-assessed grades that favored private schools. Closed-book exams vanished. By 2023, exams returned but with cracking down on grade inflation, leaving many students with lower grades than expected.
Universities scrambled to keep up. Open-book, online tests became standard since 2020 and are still used by 70% of UK universities. The format has been inconsistent. Some exams are online, some handwritten — sometimes decided deep into the academic year. 
Students say AI is a helpful shortcut in this mess. It helps them structure essays and research. It’s fast and convenient.
Financial strain makes AI more appealing. 68% of students now have part-time jobs, the highest in a decade. Student loans stretch over 40 years for some. The pressure leaves little time to actually study.
Elsie McDowell, a 2023 Hugo Young award winner, puts it bluntly:
"AI is a time-saving tool; if students don’t have the time or resources to fully engage with their studies, it is because something has gone badly wrong with the university system itself."
She adds:
"The use of AI is mushrooming because it’s convenient and fast, yes, but also because of the uncertainty that prevails around post-Covid exams, as well as the increasing financial precarity of students. Universities need to pick an exam format and stick to it."
The chaotic post-Covid university system combined with rising living costs makes AI use in education inevitable.
Read more about the ongoing debate over AI and exams here.
