Guidance and support for the use of AI in history
27 February 2024
Richard Kerridge, History Subject Advisor
The rapid and ongoing advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools bring both benefits and challenges to education and assessment. In this blog, I highlight the guidance available for managing AI use in history qualifications and how to deal with misuse in assessments.
What is AI?
AI tools generate text or images in response to user prompts and questions. The responses of AI tools are based upon the data sets upon which they have been trained. ChatGPT is the best-known example of an AI chatbot, but many other chatbots and tools are available.
ChatGPT is the one most likely to be relevant to students of history and can respond to a variety of prompts with a long-form, essay-style answer.
Chatbots with similar functions include, but are not limited to:
Appropriate use of AI
Whether the use of AI by students is appropriate for a given task will depend on the marking criteria and nature of the task. For the history NEAs, this means that appropriate use of AI will be in the planning and teaching stages only.
This could include:
- Initial research on topic areas, suggestions for titles, ideas of where to find material.
- Planning the basic structure of an essay (not the content).
- Summarising existing notes to help with organisation.
- Gathering factual, contextual information.
Inappropriate use of AI
Like plagiarism, AI can be used by students to create work which they then try to pass off as their own work. Where a student has used AI to complete all or some of their work, they are not demonstrating their own knowledge, understanding and application of skills. This may prevent the candidate from presenting their own authentic evidence.
Examples of AI misuse include using or modifying AI responses without acknowledgement, disguising the use of AI, or using it for substantial sections of work. You can support your students by teaching them about appropriate use of AI in history, demonstrating how to reference AI correctly where its use is appropriate, and having clear policies for AI use within your department.
For the history NEAs, inappropriate use includes (but is not limited to):
- Generating full or part essay responses to a title.
- Restructuring, rewriting, or adding to existing candidate work.
If you are unsure whether a student’s use of AI is inappropriate, please contact us at History@ocr.org.uk.
What to do when candidates misuse AI in assessments
Teachers must not accept work which is not the student’s own. Ultimately the Head of Centre has the responsibility for ensuring that students submit authentic work.
If you suspect AI misuse and the student has not signed the declaration of authentication, your centre doesn’t need to report the malpractice to OCR. You can resolve the matter prior to the signing of the declarations.
If AI misuse is suspected after formal submission and signing of the authentication sheet, AI concerns within candidate work should be reported with a JCQ M1 form, as outlined in the JCQ AI guidance, available on the Malpractice section of the JCQ website. Please email your completed forms to OCR at malpractice@ocr.org.uk.
Frequently asked questions
Can students use AI to generate their titles for the NEA?
Yes, but proposals must be submitted for approval by OCR in the usual way.
Most of the history NEA is completed outside of lesson time. How can I check for misuse of AI?
As with any suspicion of possible plagiarism, knowledge of your student is key. Drafts can be hosted online for teachers to access; planning can be completed in the classroom; and asking students about their thoughts and research processes at the draft feedback stage can help you understand how your student has put their NEA together.
Will OCR be removing the NEAs in history?
No, we have no plans to remove NEA assessment for our A Level History qualification. It is a core part of the qualification and students produce rigorous, exciting, and thought-provoking NEA work every year.
Further support
Please refer to the JCQ AI use in assessments: Protecting the integrity of assessment document for further information on managing the use of AI within your assessments.
We are also producing a range of support resources, included recorded webinars, on our AI support page.
Stay connected
Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any questions, you can email us at History@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or message us on X (formerly Twitter) @OCR_History. You can also sign up to receive subject updates to keep up-to-date with the latest news, updates and resources.
About the author
Richard joined Cambridge International Assessment in September 2019 and OCR in October 2022. Prior to joining OCR he taught history for seventeen years. He was a Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Head of Humanities and SSAT Lead Practitioner as well as writing and contributing to text books and exam-board resources. He has presented at the Historical Association and Schools History Project annual conferences and for Keynote Education. Richard is very proud to be an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He enjoys being surrounded by his family, friends and two dogs.
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