The University of Cambridge opposes Turnitin AI training plans

The University of Cambridge became the first university to refuse to sign Turnitin's new licence agreement in July 2026, according to the Cambridge Students' Union, after the proposed Terms of Use indicated student work would be used to train AI models. Cambridge will continue operating under the old Terms of Use until July 2027, meaning no student work submitted this academic year will be used to train AI models, while the University explores alternatives to Turnitin; Turnitin agreed to postpone issuing a new End-User Licence Agreement until September 2027 and confirmed no student or staff data has been used to develop generative AI or large language models.

Uni opposes Turnitin AI training plans The University is now exploring alternatives to the plagiarism detection service, according to the SU The University of Cambridge refused to sign plagiarism detection software Turnitin’s new licence agreement, which could have allowed students’ work to be used to train artificial intelligence AI models, Varsity can reveal. A spokesperson for the Cambridge Students’ Union SU told Varsity that, since refusing to sign the new agreement in July, the University is currently “operating under a modified arrangement with Turnitin”. The spokesperson said: “In July 2026, the University of Cambridge became the first university to refuse to sign Turnitin’s new contract, which contained changes to the Terms of Use indicating that student work would be used to train AI models.” They added that this means that, despite proposed changes to its Terms of Use, the University will continue to use the old Terms of Use until July 2027. The spokesperson continued: “This means that no student work submitted at any point this academic year will be used to train AI models. During the interim, the University is exploring alternatives to Turnitin.” They said that the SU “strongly supported the University’s decision not to accept these new terms”. One third-year student at Churchill College told Varsity : “This is very good news. I’m glad to see the university and the SU standing up for students. Hopefully other universities will follow suit and demonstrate to Turnitin that they’ve gone a step too far.” A University spokesperson said: “The University acted swiftly in July, when it became aware that Turnitin was suggesting changes to the End-User Licence Agreement EULA which had possible implications for data privacy and intellectual property. “After discussions with Turnitin, the company agreed to postpone the issue of a new EULA until September 2027. Turnitin has confirmed that no student or staff data has been used to develop any generative Artificial Intelligence models or Large Language Models, and that it has no plans to use student essays in this way. “Discussions will now continue with Turnitin, but we are clear that we will not accept any changes to the EULA that impact on data privacy or intellectual property.” Cambridge first began trialling https://www.phar.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Turnitinpolicy1415Pharmacology.pdf Turnitin in the academic year 2007-2008, with an increasing number of faculties and departments subsequently adopting the software. Some faculties and departments at the University of Cambridge use Turnitin for blanket checks of all assessed work submitted online by students, including the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, the Department of Computer Science and Technology, and the Faculty of History. However, other departments use Turnitin selectively, either conducting checks at random or submitting work to Turnitin when there are existing grounds for concern. For instance, the Department of Psychology only submits https://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/documents/plagiarism work to Turnitin that is deemed “suspicious,” while the Department of Engineering claims https://teaching.eng.cam.ac.uk/content/turnitin-text-matching-software-information that submitted work “will be subjected to spot checks from time to time, or in cases where there is cause for concern”. Students across the country have raised https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c920v288gjd7o concerns over the use of Turnitin at UK universities, in light of the proposed changes to the software’s licence agreement. SUs at universities such as York, St Andrew’s, Lancaster, Reading, and East Anglia have either planned or already undertaken discussions with their universities about concerns surrounding the use of Turnitin. Sam Dickinson, union affairs officer at York Students’ Union, commented: “The key issue here is that students’ intellectual property is something that should belong to them.” Dickinson added: “If your university is using Turnitin and it’s using student-submitted work to train AI services, you can’t meaningfully consent to that because you have to submit your work to get marked.” While the University of York has said it will review changes to Turnitin’s terms and conditions, the University of Southampton has announced https://elearn.soton.ac.uk/knowledge-base/turnitin-announcement-of-moving-away-from-turnitin/ it will begin “phasing out” its use of Turnitin “immediately,” and will not renew its contract with the platform after the 2026-27 academic year. “While we understand Turnitin has postponed changes to the end-user licence agreement that would have allowed it to use student submissions to train AI services, it has not fully clarified what future changes may be imposed,” a spokesperson for the University of Southampton said https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c920v288gjd7o . Turnitin uses machine learning to help identify plagiarism, comparing students’ work to previous submissions and existing academic articles. The company previously proposed updating its End User Licence Agreement EULA to allow it to use student work in the development and improvement of AI tools. Institutions would have had to accept the new agreement to continue using the service. A Turnitin spokesperson said: “We recognise the great responsibility that comes with our customers’ trust to protect their data, which we have prioritised for nearly 30 years. We acknowledge that the introduction of AI in education raised new questions and concerns about data use and privacy. We are committed to being transparent around AI product design and data use and do not train a generative AI model. We have recently released the Turnitin Trust Centre, https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.turnitin.com%2Ftrust-center&data=05%7C02%7Caf931%40cam.ac.uk%7C2b7821743c8747066c5c08df1ef08b95%7C49a50445bdfa4b79ade3547b4f3986e9%7C1%7C0%7C639263690651667633%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=CuU7ToSapqFA7KcZ2AEZHqQ3SY08uxZXtqJgkJQ5Mw8%3D&reserved=0 which covers Turnitin’s AI principles, AI definitions, how AI is used in Turnitin products, what customers can control, and the full privacy policy.” According to Uni Compare, 98% of UK universities use https://universitycompare.com/advice/student/what-is-turnitin Turnitin products. 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