‘Even in an increasingly digitally mediated higher education, the release of ChatGPT in late 2022 seemed different. This paradigm shift was due to the ability of this technology to potentially complete student and staff work. It questions not only academic practice but the purpose of the university. Incorporating GenAI into universities policies and practice, therefore, requires an evidence-based approach and a strong student voice. Between September and December 2025, the StudentXGenAI Project ran a large-scale, multi-institution (>7000 responses at 7 UK institutions), cross-sectional survey that sought to understand how students used GenAI in their studies, the perceived usefulness, and the factors that influenced their use. In this paper we present the findings from the UK survey using 5 key themes identified by Chung et al (2026) who administered the same survey in Australia in the previous year. We compare the UK and Australian findings, presenting a strikingly similar yet nuanced picture. From our findings, it is clear that despite the discourse that everyone is using it, there are a significant minority of students conscientiously objecting to GenAI use. For those that are using it, the majority of students are honest the majority of the time and are trying to avoid submitting direct GenAI outputs. Yet the data shows that students use GenAI for a range of tasks throughout the entire learning and assessment process. In doing so there is a significant tension between the key motivating factor of efficiency and the discouraging factors relating to ethics. The majority of students are looking for an ethical fast lane rather than a bypass of learning. Therefore, it raises serious questions about how students are able to ethically judge whether their usage is helping or hindering their actual learning, particularly under the pressure of assessment conditions when the temptation to use GenAI is greatest.’
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AI Update 