University students in the UK have raised concerns about Turnitin, the software many schools use to submit essays and check them for plagiarism. They fear their work could be used to train artificial intelligence tools.
The University of York Students' Union said planned changes to Turnitin's licence agreement could allow student work to be used to teach AI models.
The tools in question use machine learning to compare student work with other submissions and academic articles. They do not write or reproduce student essays.
Students Push Back on Consent
Sam Dickinson, union affairs officer at York Students' Union, said concerns were first raised in August. "The key issue here is that students' intellectual property is something that should belong to them," he said.
Dickinson said students cannot truly agree to their work being used for AI training. He explained that students must submit their work in order to be marked.
He also pointed to a falling number of graduate job vacancies, partly linked to AI. He said this has added to "massive anxiety" among students.
At Lancaster University, Students' Union education officer Niamh McAuley said she would hold talks with the university. Her aim is to stop student work from being used to train AI.
Emily Bannister, St Andrews University's SU president for education, called the proposed change a "fundamental challenge to the principles of academic integrity." She has written to Turnitin's CEO and to university leaders.
Students' Union presidents at the University of Reading said they would ask the university how it plans to protect students' interests.
Universities Respond
According to the website Uni Compare, 98% of UK universities use Turnitin products. Some are now reconsidering.
The University of Southampton said it is phasing out the service immediately. It will not renew its contract after the 2026-27 academic year.
A Southampton spokesperson said Turnitin "has not fully clarified what future changes may be imposed." The university is looking at other options to maintain academic integrity standards.
The undergraduate education officer at the University of East Anglia Students' Union said there is a "strong inclination from both sides" to move away from Turnitin.
The University of York said it has contacted Turnitin. It understands its terms will not change and that student data will not be used to train AI services. The university is meeting with the Students' Union to discuss the issue.
Turnitin, based in California, said its institutional agreements were updated to reflect current data practices. The company said it does not use student work to train the AI assistant in its Turnitin Clarity product.
However, Turnitin said it "may use anonymized student submissions to improve our detection and assessment tools."
The company said its policy will not be updated any earlier than September 1, 2027. It said this gives it time to discuss any changes with customers.
