Communication regarding students using AI for 2025 exam diet and coursework

I would like to make a request under FOISA. Please release the following information:

All communication held by the SQA regarding students' use of AI to cheat for 2025 National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams and/or coursework submissions.
The timeframe for this request is 01/05/2025 - present.

On 25/07/2025 we requested that you clarify the particular types of communication you were seeking and you provided the following response:

As per the initial email, I am seeking all communication held by the SQA regarding students' use of AI to cheat in 2025 National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams or coursework. I'm not really sure what isn't clear about that.

I'd expect the response to include, for example, internal emails/messages relating to or mentioning this matter (for example, this might be a discussion or analysis of the general numbers that have been flagged this year, or a discussion of the amount of AI-related cheating seen in a particular subject area). I'd also expect it to include material such as communication from markers raising concerns, or communication with schools/councils regarding the issue.

I consider the original request to be perfectly clear, and the timeframe to be narrow enough that this shouldn't be a problem, but hopefully this further information helps you.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information sought is exempt under section 30(b)(ii) of the Act, as disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. In this case the communications requested are used for internal deliberations and discussions involving SQA colleagues exercising professional judgement and establishing outcomes.

When applying a section 30 exemption a public authority is obliged to undertake the public interest test.

While there is a public interest in transparency and accountability around candidate malpractice, we believe this is outweighed by the importance of safeguarding internal deliberation and preserving the ability of SQA colleagues to engage in open, professional exchanges. Disclosure could compromise future malpractice handling and inhibit robust discussion of candidate malpractice related issues.

Although the request is exempt for the reasons detailed above, there is publicly available information on our website. Specifically, information regarding the use of generative AI (GenAI) in assessments which is available here: 

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/107507.html

We also provide guidance to our Principal Assessors to support them and their marking teams to detect use of AI in SQA coursework and assessments. This is attached.

Additional information (157 KB)