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Our Q3 Learning Integrity Insights Report is here. We’ve combed through qualitative and quantitative data from educators, students, and institutions to spot patterns, track trends, and understand how AI is shaping the modern classroom.
This chapter of learning integrity is choppy. But we’re doing what we can to steady the ship. Find the key takeaways from our research below, or download the full Q3 Learning Integrity Insights Report.
What are the main findings from the Q3 Learning Integrity Insights Report?
1. Transparent writing environments are associated with less outsourcing work to AI
In the US and Australia, when students draft in a transparent, guided writing environment (like Turnitin Clarity), near-total outsourcing of work to AI drops by almost half.
2. Educators tailor AI support by education level
Higher education focuses on quality assurance, while secondary education prioritizes collaborative guidance for student writing development.
3. Institutional AI policies often don't reach the classroom
Policies are far more effective when clearly communicated at the assignment/class level, rather than left as broad institutional guidance.
Does a transparent writing space change how students use AI?
The data suggests, yes.
We compared submissions with an AI writing score above 80% (which we classify as near-total outsourcing) written in Turnitin Clarity against those written elsewhere:
- United States: 14.3% outside Turnitin Clarity vs. 7.6% inside
- Australia and New Zealand: 6.7% outside vs. 3.96% inside
- United Kingdom: 9.6% outside vs. 7.24% inside, a smaller gap, but the same direction
The pattern held across regions over the past year.
What does the data show about students' AI use?
It's tempting to assume students use AI at every opportunity. But that's not what the data shows.
We analyzed nearly 840,000 prompts submitted through Turnitin Clarity's AI assistant. 66% of assignments involved no engagement with the assistant at all, 20% involved moderate use (1 to 5 prompts), and 14% involved high use (6 or more).
This breakdown held steady across secondary and higher education, and across the US, UK, and Australia/New Zealand.
When students did engage, they did it on their own terms: over 95% of prompts were either written from scratch or were personalized edits to a preset prompt.
How do students use AI in the writing process?
Turnitin Clarity offers preset prompts such as "suggest edits," "suggest authors or articles to read that I might want to reference to support my argument," and "help improve the organization of the paper." Usage differs sharply by education level.
- Secondary students used more than 22,000 preset prompts over the past year, favoring early-stage support. Brainstorming was the most popular, followed by outline drafting and writing feedback.
- Higher education students used nearly 10,000 preset prompts and leaned toward late-stage support. Feedback was the top choice, whether against a rubric, on organization, or on specific sections of their writing.
Why policy alone isn't enough
Students don't use AI in one uniform way, so a single, institution-wide policy can't fit every classroom.
What works is guidance that's clear at the assignment and class level, paired with tools that give visibility into the writing process and foster responsible AI use.
Want the full picture? Download the Q3 Learning Integrity Insights Report for the complete findings, including regional breakdowns and the data behind each trend.