Guidance checked 5 November 2026
Your draft is open, the deadline is Friday, and a button offers to rewrite the paragraph you’ve been stuck on all evening. Before you click, ask what that paragraph is meant to show the examiner about your work.
AI in GCSE and A-Level coursework is only an option where the rules for your task allow it. In England’s summer 2025 GCSE, AS and A-Level series, Ofqual recorded 100 proven student plagiarism cases involving AI misuse. That figure counts confirmed cases across those qualifications. It doesn’t tell us how often students used AI.
For London students handing in work for summer 2027, the checks below cover what to ask, what to save and what to do if you’ve already used a tool.
Table of Contents
Can you use AI in assessed coursework in summer 2027?
You can use AI only if your exam board and school or college allow that use for your specific task. You must still do the assessed work yourself. Ask before opening a chatbot, and check what evidence you’ll need to submit.
Which rules should you check?
The Joint Council for Qualifications, or JCQ, sets shared assessment rules for its member exam boards. Your board’s specification and task instructions tell you what applies to your subject. Your school or college, called your centre, puts those rules into practice and can set limits on the tools you use.
Non-examination assessment, usually called NEA, is assessed work outside a standard written exam. It can include a project, investigation or portfolio. If you’re new to GCSE coursework and non-exam assessment, check which work counts towards the qualification before you treat it like ordinary homework.
Ask for the rules for your exact component. If you’re unsure which GCSE exam board you’re with, ask your teacher for the board name and component code. The JCQ AI assessment guidance effective from September 2026 also requires centres to give students the AI candidate information before they start NEA. If you’re doing work for a later series, check which edition applies.
What if you’re a private candidate?
If you’re retaking A-Levels as a private candidate, confirm before entry that the centre can support and authenticate the assessed component. Ask when staff need to see your work develop. A folder of finished work may leave them without enough evidence to verify it.
Where does revision end and AI misuse begin?
Revision helps you practise a skill. Coursework shows how well you can use it on your own. A chatbot quiz on an unrelated topic is different from a chatbot choosing evidence for your submission. Check the task rules before mixing the two.
| What you want to do | What to check first |
|---|---|
| Ask for a quiz on a topic from class | Keep it separate from the assessed task and follow school rules. |
| Ask AI to suggest search terms for your actual project | Use it only if the task permits it. Keep a record and check sources yourself. |
| Get a chatbot to outline your actual essay | Treat this as task help. Check if planning support is allowed and declare it if used. |
| Ask AI to write an evaluation or generate assessed code | You can’t present that output as your own. It can’t prove you met the criteria independently. |
| Translate or rewrite a draft with a tool | Check the exact feature and task. Translation and rewriting may replace a skill you need to show. |
You might use ChatGPT for GCSE revision to test your knowledge of a topic you’ve studied. If you try AI feedback on practice answers, use work you won’t submit for assessment. Pasting in your live assignment and asking for three arguments is different. You’ve asked the tool to make choices your teacher may need to assess.
The exam board can be more specific. For instance, Pearson’s A-Level English coursework instructions advise students against using AI even to research, plan, check or improve those assignments. Permission in one class tells you little about the next.
Can you use Grammarly, Copilot or an AI translator?
Check the feature before you use it. A basic spelling check and a button that rewrites a sentence offer different kinds of help. Ask your teacher what’s allowed, particularly when the marks depend on how you write, translate, reason or code.
Check what the button does
A word processor might underline a misspelling, suggest a new sentence or draft a whole section. All three can appear in the same app. The name on the toolbar won’t tell your teacher what changed.
Ask a narrow question: “Can I use the standard spellcheck for this component, and should I switch off rewrite suggestions?” If the centre has agreed assistive tools for you, ask which functions are covered. Follow the agreed setup for the task.
Pay attention to suggestions that alter meaning. “The results show a link” and “the results prove a cause” don’t say the same thing. If the tool supplied the second claim, you’d need to check both the science and whether the help was permitted.
How do you acknowledge AI use in coursework?
For permitted AI use, name the tool, give the date and explain what you used it for. Save the prompts and replies in a fixed format, such as screenshots. Include the record with your submission and verify any sources independently.
What should your record contain?
- Name the tool and date. Add the model or feature if you know it. Include the service or app so the teacher can tell what you used.
- Save the exchange. Capture the prompt and the output, including follow-up prompts that shaped the work. Keep the files with your drafts.
- Keep your original. If the tool changed your work directly, retain the version from before it made the changes.
- Explain the role it played. Say which stage it helped with and identify any affected part of your submission. Follow your centre’s format.
- Check and cite real sources. Open each source the tool suggested and check that it exists and supports the claim. If the tool gives no sources, verify the claim yourself and cite the sources you actually used.
For a task where search-term help is allowed, an example note might read: “ChatGPT, 12 February 2027. I asked for search terms for local flood records. I used the terms to locate council reports and made my own comparison. The prompt and response are in Appendix A.”
Use your own record. A note that says “I used AI” gives the assessor almost nothing to check. A detailed note still won’t turn forbidden help into permitted help or earn marks for work the tool did.
What should you do if you’ve already used AI?
Stop using the tool on the task and tell your teacher what happened. Keep the chat, drafts and version history. If you haven’t signed your declaration, ask how the centre handles the concern. If you have signed it, tell the centre straight away.
Why does signing matter?
The authentication declaration confirms that the work is yours and you followed the rules. Before you sign, the centre handles concerns under its own procedures and doesn’t have to report them to the exam board. Ask what you’re allowed to do next; don’t assume you can submit a new draft.
Once you’ve signed, the centre must report suspected or detected AI misuse to the relevant board. You should be told what the concern is, shown the evidence that supports it and given a chance to respond. The board decides the outcome. Confirmed malpractice can cost marks or lead to disqualification, depending on the case.
What if you wrote it yourself and a detector flagged it?
Ask which parts raised concern. Bring your notes, source trail and drafts, and be ready to explain why you used a quote or reached a conclusion. JCQ says detection tools should be one part of a wider review. A score alone doesn’t settle who wrote the work.
Parents can help their child sort out dates and find drafts. Online A-Level tutoring can build a skill such as weighing evidence on a separate practice task. Tell your teacher about outside help with the assessment itself, and keep assessed decisions and writing your own.
What should you check before you hand in your coursework?
Read your task rules again, confirm your references and check that your own work shows the skill being marked. Add the evidence for any permitted AI use. If you can’t explain a section or are unsure what a tool changed, ask before signing.
Before you submit, check four things:
- Permission: You know which uses your task allowed.
- Authorship: You can explain how you chose evidence, reached a result or changed a draft.
- References: You checked the original sources and can point to the pages you used.
- Record: You’ve included the required AI evidence and told your teacher about any outside help with the task.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use ChatGPT to brainstorm coursework ideas?
Only if the rules for that task allow it. Planning help counts as AI use even if none of the output appears word for word.
Can I use AI if I cite it?
Only if the use itself was permitted. A reference tells the teacher what you used. It doesn’t give you permission or show you met the marking criteria yourself.
Do I need screenshots if I didn’t paste the AI answer?
Yes, if you used AI to help produce assessed work, such as shaping its structure. Keep the prompts and outputs and explain the role they played.
Is there a safe percentage of AI in coursework?
No. The rules turn on what you used AI for, whether it was allowed and whether the work shows your own skills. A detector percentage doesn’t answer those questions.
Can my parent or tutor rewrite a paragraph for me?
No. The paragraph you hand in must show your own work. Tell your teacher about outside help with the assessment and follow the limits for your task.
Does doing coursework at home change the rules?
No. If your task allows work at home, the same limits on help and the same requirements to show authorship still apply.
Raja specializes in Physics and Maths, with over 5 years of experience. He offers KS2, KS3, and GCSE Science and Maths lessons. He graduated from one of the top universities in the UK.
