The Scottish education system has learners at its heart. As new AI technology emerges, it’s important to consider young people’s views. Do high school learners use GenAI tools for learning? What do they use it for? What are their concerns about using this technology? What do they think is fair AI use for learners and for teachers?
As part of a research collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Qualifications Scotland (former SQA), we worked jointly with secondary students as peer researchers to conduct surveys and focus groups with other young people.
On the 10th June 2025, the student co-researchers and Maggie Mroczkowski and Jamie Lawson from Qualifications Scotland shared their findings in an online event that reached a cohort of 54 attendees, including school leaders, teachers, policy makers and researchers. Theo Pengelley (Qualifications Scotland) discussed how the findings relate to Qualifications Scotland’s stance on AI in assessment.
The outcomes of this research have been published as a paper, Secondary Students as Co-Researchers on Generative AI in Learning: Empowering Youth to Shape National Education Policy, and were presented at the UKICER Conference 2025.