You may have heard some reports relating to Turnitin and plans for using submitted student work to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. This statement has been released to directly address any concerns that these reports may have raised.

Turnitin was planning on implementing a new End-User-Licence Agreement (EULA) on the 7 July, which introduced new terms regarding the processing of student submissions using AI tools. This raised significant concerns across the sector regarding data privacy, institutional contracts and the potential for Turnitin to use staff and student data to train AI models. In our contract with Turnitin we have Terms and Conditions that ensure your data is protected and which take precedence over any EULA provided by Turnitin.

The University of Aberdeen, together with other UK institutions and organisations, raised concerns about the new EULA directly with Turnitin and through UCISA (a membership organisation representing higher and further education institutions). This resulted in Turnitin agreeing to postpone the introduction of a new EULA until September 2027 and to work with a UCISA Turnitin representation group, of which we are a member, to address institutions' concerns.

The University of Aberdeen, together with other UK institutions and organisations, raised concerns about the new EULA directly with Turnitin and through UCISA (a membership organisation representing higher and further education institutions). This resulted in Turnitin agreeing to postpone the introduction of a new EULA until September 2027 and to work with a UCISA Turnitin representation group, of which we are a member, to address institutions' concerns.

We can confirm that no student data has been used by Turnitin to develop or train any generative AI models or large language models (LLMs). Turnitin offer a range of products and we only use their Turnitin Feedback Studio tool for text-matching and grading workflows. We do not use Turnitin's AI detection tool and therefore your data will not be processed by this tool. We are committed to being transparent about how your data is used and are reviewing our use of Turnitin during AY 2026-27.

We welcome Turnitin’s statement on the 29 September which has been issued to reassure students that their data is not used to develop any generative AI models or LLMs and that Turnitin are committed to protecting student and staff data.

Additionally, we, your students’ union at AUSA, have signed a open letter that has been circulated amongst Scotland’s student leaders. This letter calls on Turnitin to abandon this proposal and engage directly with students and their elected representatives. We hear you, and we appreciate you voicing your concerns and contacting us about this important issue. We will continue to advocate for you on behalf of this issue as it evolves.  If you have any further comments or concerns please contact the VP of Education or VP of Welfare.

Kaitlin, Courage, Hannah, Olivia, Mitalee.