AI could be used to help generate exam question papers, Ofqual chief says

10 December 2024, 18:24

A-level students sat at desks for an exam inside a sports hall
Digital exams. Picture: PA

Sir Ian Bauckham is the Government’s preferred candidate for the chief regulator at Ofqual.

Artificial intelligence could be used to help generate exam questions, the head of England’s exams regulator has suggested.

Sir Ian Bauckham, interim chief regulator at Ofqual, said artificial intelligence (AI) can support exam boards in creating question papers which are comparable to previous years.

But addressing MPs on the Education Select Committee on Tuesday, Sir Ian said it was “imperative” that a human oversees the marking of students’ work as the public still wants this process in place for qualifications.

Sir Ian, who has served as the interim chief regulator of Ofqual since January, has been selected as the Government’s preferred candidate for the permanent position.

During his pre-appointment hearing before the committee, Sir Ian said: “There are lots and lots of useful, helpful, quality improving things AI can do, but marking work itself must be overseen by a human being.”

He added: “There is potential, I think, for some very exciting uses of AI for the generation of question papers, for comparing question papers year-on-year.”

The Ofqual chief said generating question papers which are roughly the same level of difficulty each year is “labour intensive” and “difficult”.

Sir Ian said: “It may well be that AI can support with that.

“My judgment would be that there are fewer risks to public confidence there, providing a human is in the loop for final sign-off, than in the actual marking of student work.”

The chief regulator said: “Decisions made by AI evaluating a piece of work that a student has produced for a high-stakes assessment are less transparent and therefore less open to challenge than they might be if marked by a human.

“You can’t easily ask a computer to explain to you why it’s made a judgment about the marking of your work in a way that you can ask an examiner to explain that.”

He told MPs that the vast majority of GCSE and A-level assessments involve “some degree of extended writing” which would need a human to look at.

But Sir Ian acknowledged that there could be some “very simple, selective response items”, such as multiple choice questions, which could be marked safely by a machine but with a human checking the process.

On Tuesday, Ofsted announced that it has been asked by the Government to carry out research into the use of AI in education.

The review will investigate how schools and colleges in England are already using AI, and how leaders are managing risks associated with AI use.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A primary school teacher looking stressed next to piles of classroom books

State schools falling behind private schools in AI ‘digital divide’ – report

A laptop user with their hood up

Terror laws watchdog warns of risk posed by extremists using AI

An eldery man getting into an Uber vehicle

Uber rolls out ‘senior accounts’ in UK to help elderly people travel

A blurred laptop screen

Ofcom boss: Tech firms not given much power over how to protect children online

European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake (PA)

No limit to ChatGPT searches ‘remarkable’ given environmental impact – Tim Peake

CityFibre Broadband van

Openreach challenger CityFibre secures £2.3bn financing deal

The Grok X AI logo is displayed on a mobile phone with Grok seen in the background

Elon Musk's chatbot that praised Hitler was 'trained to use his personal beliefs'

Top view of the Milky Way galaxy showing the estimated orbits of both our Sun and the 3I/ATLAS comet

Mysterious space object may be oldest comet ever discovered, scientists say

Children with multiple long-term health issues undergo severe emotional stress at the same time as they are trying to cope with the physical challenges of their conditions, a study has found (Dominic

Children’s social media activity ‘highlights stress of living with health issue’

Scientists at Sheffield Hallam university have developed a new technique which they describe as a "powerful double weapon" to prevent cancer patients losing their hair during chemotherapy.

New technique hailed as ‘powerful double weapon’ against chemotherapy hair loss

Elon Musk

Elon Musk says his new AI model ‘better than PhD level in everything’

President of France Emmanuel Macron with Sir Keir Starmer

UK and France agree ‘Entente Technologique’ to help protect infrastructure

SHANGHAI, CHINA - JUNE 18, 2025 - The Nvidia logo displayed on a smartphone in Shanghai, China on June 18, 2025. (Photo by CFOTO/Sipa USA)

Nvidia becomes world’s most valuable listed company at $4trn

Surgical Robot

Robot performs realistic surgery ‘with 100% accuracy’

Peter Kyle outside the BBC smiling

Government makes deal with Google to provide free tech for UK public services

Former Wimbledon line judge Pauline Eyre

Wimbledon technology change ‘has turned officials into glorified butlers’