SOAS to lead on QAA-funded AI assessment toolkit project
SOAS University of London will lead one of the UK projects funded by the Quality Assurance Agency's (QAA) Collaborative Enhancement Projects (CEP) scheme to help universities design assessments that are secure, inclusive and future-focused in the AI era.
The project will pilot, evaluate and refine a practical assessment toolkit that supports programme teams to build AI literacy and strengthen academic integrity through programme design and validation across online, blended and face-to-face teaching.
The project aims to support students with a more consistent and transparent programme-level assessment experience, strengthening fairness and confidence in standards. Embedding principles of assessment security and AI literacy is expected to help students engage critically and responsibly with AI as part of learning and future employability. Staff will also benefit as the toolkit is designed to strengthen confidence in designing secure, programme-level, strategically aligned assessments across online, blended and face-to-face contexts.
This project focuses on holistic programme design, the critical integration of GenAI into the learning journey, and academic integrity.
The SOAS-led initiative will be delivered in partnership with six UK higher education institutions and supported by the Bloomsbury Learning Exchange, which will facilitate cross-institutional collaboration. The partnership will test and refine the toolkit across disciplines and delivery modes, generating open resources, case studies and evaluation insights to inform national discussion on assessment integrity and AI literacy.
Designing assessment with integrity in the AI era
Dr Mark J. P. Kerrigan, Head of Learning, Teaching Enhancement and Online Programmes at SOAS, said: “GenAI is transforming education, particularly assessment.”
“This project focuses on holistic programme design, the critical integration of GenAI into the learning journey, and academic integrity. In doing so, it aims to help protect academic standards while preserving critical thinking, affording new learning opportunities and independent judgment in an AI-enabled context,” added Kerrigan, who is leading the project.
Professor Joanna Newman, Provost of SOAS University of London, highlighted the importance of this field in a recent blog post, noting that the Global AI Adoption report found only 16% of people use AI, with the majority of users aged 18–34. "Among all the discussions and debates about AI and other emerging technologies, the context of where AI is being deployed, how it is developing in different ways in different places and by different groups, is less well understood and discussed."
Dr Max Jaede, Membership Quality Specialist at the Quality Assurance Agency, said: "We at QAA support and fund Collaborative Enhancement Projects which bring together colleagues from across our sector to develop and share best practice in addressing some of the most significant issues facing higher education today. The focus of this project – to create a practical toolkit to promote effective assessment design in the age of generative artificial intelligence, and to maintain academic integrity and enhance student learning in doing so – is of course highly timely, and we very much look forward to working with our partners on the important piece of work."
The assessment toolkit is designed to help programme teams plan assessment in a way that is secure, coherent and strategically aligned, rather than relying on reactive fixes once issues arise. The toolkit will include structured workflows, exemplars and rubrics, and will be tested and refined across multiple institutions and disciplines.
The project frames generative AI as a "wicked problem" for higher education: complex, evolving and never definitively solvable. It reflects the argument that reform must move beyond detection toward programme-level assurance of learning through coherent, evidence-informed assessment systems.
Scaling the toolkit across the sector
The toolkit is designed for scalability, offering adaptable workflows and practitioner guidance that can be embedded across departments and faculties.
Outputs will inform programme design, review and validation processes, supporting consistent, secure assessment practice at scale.
The SOAS-led project will be conducted in partnership with colleagues from the University of London, University College London, the University of Reading, City St George's University of London, Birkbeck University of London, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
