SQA focus groups reveal Scottish educators' attitudes towards GenAI

Monday 10 February 2025

SQA has published the latest phase of its research further examining the attitudes of teaching professionals and education practitioners towards Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in education.

Over 30 education practitioners from across the country took part in focus groups to discuss the benefits and challenges of GenAI use in education, as well as their opinions on how GenAI should be used, monitored and governed going forward.

The findings of the focus groups reveal the need for a national consensus and overarching guidance towards the use of GenAI in education, given the range of views on how it should be used in educational settings.

Key findings:

• There is a consensus that GenAI is changing how learners engage with their education, and the education sector must respond and adapt.
• There were differing opinions on who is ultimately responsible for issuing guidance on GenAI use, however there was agreement that without a cohesive approach and training across the wider education sector, inequalities may be further exacerbated.
• Practitioners acknowledge that GenAI poses challenges, including; potential de-skilling of learners, lack of knowledge among teaching professionals and learners, and determining the authenticity of learners’ work.
• Practitioners also feel GenAI has benefits, including reducing teacher workload, assisting learners in their planning, and cultivating digital skills.

Theodore Pengelley, Digital Learning Development Manager and chair of SQA’s Artificial Intelligence and Emergent Technology Group, commented: “I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the focus groups; the opinions and feedback shared will be of great interest to the wider education community and will help inform SQA’s approach to GenAI use and future guidelines.”

The was a general agreement from the focus groups that SQA should be responsible for the use of GenAI in relation to assessments and qualifications, while other education partners Education Scotland should have oversight of GenAI use within the curriculum. Some participants felt that SQA should play a central role in spreading guidance on GenAI, and some felt that local authorities, employers, and other professional bodies should also be involved in the implementation of GenAI in teaching and learning.

While some practitioners disagreed with SQA’s initial stance on AI in assessment, others felt the current approach was fair. There was a general agreement that GenAI could be used within teaching and learning, but that teachers and learners both require training on how to use GenAI to ensure there is an equal playing field.

What was clear was the need for a central voice to govern the use of GenAI and ensure consistency. One participant commented, “We need the national voice. Because without that, it’s only being pushed from the bottom up.”

Discussions within the focus groups also covered the variety of benefits and challenges that GenAI in education brings. The focus groups acknowledged that challenges tended to focus on loss of skills and learning; authorship and authenticity; and lack of knowledge about GenAI technology. The main benefits discussed focused on reduced teacher workload; enhanced learning; and support for those with additional support needs.

Theodore Pengelley highlighted how the latest research builds upon a wide-ranging survey of more than 500 educators last year. He added: “This latest report is the second stage of SQA’s consultation on the use of AI in education and follows the publication of research in July last year, where over 500 educators were surveyed on GenAI use in education. Those findings revealed that many practitioners were already using GenAI technologies in their classrooms, and that the majority of practitioners believed learners should be educated on using GenAI tools responsibly. This new research will be used to review and adapt SQA’s GenAI statement for the 2024-25 academic year.

“As part of our Prospectus for Change and roadmap to Qualifications Scotland, SQA is committed to engaging with the full education community, and our next phase of research will look to engage learners on their views of GenAI use in education.”

Currently, the use of Generative AI tools is not permitted by SQA to generate outputs that could then be submitted as the learner’s own work when completing assessment tasks that contribute towards a qualification. SQA also continues to discourage the use of referencing GenAI outputs, as they cannot be regarded as a reliable source of information.

The Generative Artificial Intelligence Consultation Practitioner Focus Groups report can be found on the Generative AI consultation pages of the website.