--- {"title": "How Should Teachers Talk to Pupils About AI-Written Homework?", "description": "A calm, practical way to discuss AI-written homework with pupils: clear expectations, evidence of process, and conversations rather than accusations.", "slug": "how-should-teachers-talk-to-pupils-about-ai-written-homework", "date": "2026-10-23", "lang": "en", "country": "uk", "keywords": ["AI written homework", "talking to pupils about AI", "AI detection in schools", "AI and coursework", "marking written work with AI"], "faq": [{"q": "Can an AI-writing estimate prove that a pupil cheated?", "a": "No. Treat it as a prompt to look more closely and talk to the pupil, never as evidence on its own. Drafts, notes and a short conversation tell you far more."}, {"q": "Do pupils see the AI-writing estimate in Korektor?", "a": "Only if you choose to show it. By default, the estimate is visible to the teacher alone."}, {"q": "How are marks shown for UK classes?", "a": "Korektor gives a percentage, worked out roughly in proportion to the rubric score. You can change the final mark on any piece of work."}, {"q": "Where is pupils' work stored?", "a": "On Cloudflare in the European Union. There are no adverts and the data is not sold."}]} --- The best way to talk to pupils about AI-written homework is to be clear before the task, curious during it and calm afterwards. Tell them exactly what help is allowed, ask them to show how the work was made, and when something looks off, start with a conversation rather than an accusation. Pupils respond far better to a teacher who wants to understand their thinking than to one who wants to catch them out. ## Why is this conversation so difficult? Because the stakes feel high on both sides. Teachers worry that marks no longer mean what they used to. Pupils worry about being wrongly accused, and many genuinely do not know where the line is. Is it acceptable to ask a chatbot to explain a poem? To fix their grammar? To suggest a structure? If nobody has told them, they will each draw the line somewhere different. The conversation also goes wrong when it starts with a verdict. "This was written by AI" invites denial. "Talk me through how you wrote this paragraph" invites an explanation, and the explanation usually tells you what you need to know. ## What should I tell pupils before they start? Set expectations for each task, not just once a year. A short statement at the top of the assignment works well: - What AI use is allowed, for example checking spelling or brainstorming questions. - What is not allowed, for example generating paragraphs or rewriting the whole piece. - What you will ask for as evidence of their own work, such as a plan, notes or a first draft. - What happens if you have doubts: a conversation, not an automatic penalty. This matters most for longer written work at GCSE and A level, where pupils are building habits they will carry forward. Keep the rules simple enough that a Year 9 pupil could repeat them back to you. ## How can I design homework that shows the pupil's own thinking? You cannot make a task impossible to outsource, but you can make the process visible: - Ask for a brief plan or a few bullet-point notes alongside the final piece. - Include a personal or local element: a text you read together in class, a discussion they took part in, an experiment they ran. - Ask pupils to annotate one paragraph explaining a choice they made. - Build in a short in-class writing task on the same topic, so you have a sample of their unaided style. None of this is about suspicion. It is good teaching practice that also happens to make AI shortcuts less tempting. ## What should I do when a piece of work looks AI-written? Slow down. Compare it with the pupil's earlier work and their in-class writing. Then talk to them privately and ask open questions: why did you choose this example, what does this word mean, what would you change if you had another day? A pupil who wrote the work can usually discuss it. A pupil who did not will often say so once they feel it is safe to. Be careful with detection tools. Any AI-writing estimate, including the one in Korektor, is an estimate, not proof. Use it to decide where to look, never as the sole reason for a sanction, and follow your school's own policy. ## How can marking tools help without taking over? The pressure behind many of these worries is time. When you are marking thirty essays a night, careful conversations feel like a luxury. A marking assistant can take on the first pass, so you have more time for the pupils who need a word. [Korektor](https://korektor.app/uk) marks written work against your own rubric and shows an estimate of AI-written text alongside the feedback. Crucially, you decide who sees what: by default the estimate is visible only to you, so a pupil never receives an automated label before you have looked at the work yourself. ## How do I set this up in Korektor? 1. Create an assignment from a template (composition, argumentative essay or science report) or from scratch, with the task, word range and deadline. 2. Add your rubric criteria and points, choose strictness and feedback tone, and type any extra guidance for the grader, such as "pupils may use a spell-checker but not generated text". 3. Tick what the AI checks: comments on the text, spelling and punctuation, subject vocabulary, sources, images and the AI-writing estimate. 4. Choose what pupils see. Leave the AI-writing estimate hidden if you want to review it before any conversation. 5. Share the link. Pupils type their name, with no account needed, and upload a Word document, PDF, PowerPoint, plain text or up to 8 photos of handwritten work. 6. Review each piece under "received papers". The percentage is worked out roughly in proportion to the rubric score, and you can change it. ## What should the conversation sound like? Keep it short and specific. "I noticed this essay reads quite differently from your class work. Can you tell me how you put it together?" Then listen. If the pupil admits to using AI, focus on what they should do next time and give them a fair chance to redo the work. If they did write it, thank them and move on. Either way, they learn that you care about their thinking. If you would like more time for those conversations, you can [try Korektor with three free markings](https://korektor.app/uk), no account required.