FOI23/24 093 Number of Plagiarism Cases

Date published: 15/11/2023

I would like to know: -

The total number of plagiarism cases detected by the SQA for coursework submitted towards National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses for the academic year 2022/23.

- Of these cases, I would like to know how many were detected due to the suspected use of Artificial Intelligence.

- I would like the cases detected as a result of AI broken down by the penalty applied.

- I would like to request the overall plagiarism in coursework figures and the figure of plagiarism detected in coursework figures due to AI for the year 2021/22.

For the academic year 2022/2023, there were 54 cases of plagiarism.

8 were at Advanced Higher level:

15 at Higher: and

31 at National level.

In all the cases, the plagiarism was in a non-exam component, e.g coursework, assignment etc.

We are unable to provide the information on the use of Artificial Intelligence as it is not held by the SQA. Section 17 of FOISA provides that where an authority does not hold information requested it should notify the requester to that effect.

Our candidate malpractice process currently does not have a separate category for artificial intelligence and any possible instances of this would be investigated as plagiarism. Accordingly, we are unable to provide the information requested.

We are continuing to monitor further advances in artificial intelligence technology and are consulting and engaging across the education community on the potential role of AI in qualifications, learning and assessment. This activity will help guide our approach in the future.