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Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications

Phil Newton Orcid Logo, Michael Draper Orcid Logo

Quality in Higher Education, Volume: 31, Issue: 1, Pages: 127 - 141

Swansea University Authors: Phil Newton Orcid Logo, Michael Draper Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/13538322.2025.2521174

Abstract

The use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations is associated with high levels of cheating, which increased further during the COVID lockdown. New generative AI chatbots have added further concern, since they can answer exam questions to a very high level. However, it is currentl...

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Published in: Quality in Higher Education
ISSN: 1353-8322 1470-1081
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69744
first_indexed 2025-06-16T11:02:29Z
last_indexed 2025-11-08T06:13:49Z
id cronfa69744
recordtype SURis
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spelling 2025-11-07T14:29:59.4932664 v2 69744 2025-06-16 Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8 0000-0002-5272-7979 Phil Newton Phil Newton true false 02beb9fc34a40c52d88c6e8ad9db1e92 0000-0003-1272-8122 Michael Draper Michael Draper true false 2025-06-16 MEDS The use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations is associated with high levels of cheating, which increased further during the COVID lockdown. New generative AI chatbots have added further concern, since they can answer exam questions to a very high level. However, it is currently unclear how common these unsupervised examinations are. A Freedom of Information request methodology was used to determine whether universities in the United Kingdom used SOUR examinations in the 23/24 academic year. Extensive use of these examinations was found with minimal plans to reduce them for future years. Policies for the security of SOUR examinations often put students in the paradoxical position of being required to work under ‘examination conditions’ remotely, but with no attempt by the university to administer those conditions. This situation raises questions over the validity of SOUR examinations as an assessment format and the quality assurance of degree awards that include these assessments. Journal Article Quality in Higher Education 31 1 127 141 Informa UK Limited 1353-8322 1470-1081 ChatGPT; academicintegrity; validity; qualityassurance; cheating 15 7 2025 2025-07-15 10.1080/13538322.2025.2521174 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-11-07T14:29:59.4932664 2025-06-16T11:59:54.7464904 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine Phil Newton 0000-0002-5272-7979 1 Michael Draper 0000-0003-1272-8122 2 69744__34804__8bc1259d1e91431a8ec3fad22935b5b1.pdf 69744.VoR.pdf 2025-07-21T12:22:16.2226515 Output 1446077 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
spellingShingle Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
Phil Newton
Michael Draper
title_short Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
title_full Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
title_fullStr Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
title_full_unstemmed Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
title_sort Widespread use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations in UK higher education: ethical and quality assurance implications
author_id_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8
02beb9fc34a40c52d88c6e8ad9db1e92
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8_***_Phil Newton
02beb9fc34a40c52d88c6e8ad9db1e92_***_Michael Draper
author Phil Newton
Michael Draper
author2 Phil Newton
Michael Draper
format Journal article
container_title Quality in Higher Education
container_volume 31
container_issue 1
container_start_page 127
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1353-8322
1470-1081
doi_str_mv 10.1080/13538322.2025.2521174
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
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description The use of summative online unsupervised remote (SOUR) examinations is associated with high levels of cheating, which increased further during the COVID lockdown. New generative AI chatbots have added further concern, since they can answer exam questions to a very high level. However, it is currently unclear how common these unsupervised examinations are. A Freedom of Information request methodology was used to determine whether universities in the United Kingdom used SOUR examinations in the 23/24 academic year. Extensive use of these examinations was found with minimal plans to reduce them for future years. Policies for the security of SOUR examinations often put students in the paradoxical position of being required to work under ‘examination conditions’ remotely, but with no attempt by the university to administer those conditions. This situation raises questions over the validity of SOUR examinations as an assessment format and the quality assurance of degree awards that include these assessments.
published_date 2025-07-15T05:28:58Z
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