In 2023, NZQA and the Ministry of Education provided initial advice and guidance to kura and schools on the use of AI, and using AI for assessment purposes.
The Ministry of Education offers some points that schools and teachers may find useful regarding the acceptable use of AI:
On this page
Advice for kura and schools with consent to assess
Kura and schools, with consent to assess DASS-listed standards, must have an authenticity policy to support assessment practice. This policy must include the acceptable use of AI.
NZQA’s School Relationship Managers can support kura and schools with this development. This area will be a key focus in the delivery of the Leading National Assessment seminars in 2024.
It's important that kura and schools have an education programme for ākonga or students that focuses on:
- the need for academic integrity
- the acknowledgement of all sources of information
- how to reference sources of information or content
- warnings about both bias and inaccurate information being generated by AI.
Advice for kaiako and teachers as assessors
In the secondary sector, NZQA believes that kaiako and teachers know their ākonga and students best, and whether the work they submit is genuinely their own.
Strategies to support authenticity checks include:
- setting milestones (regular check-ins) with ākonga or students
- observing progress
- requiring ākonga or students to identify and reference all sources of information
- follow-up conversations and questions, such as 'how did you come to that conclusion?'
- making comparisons to other samples of the ākonga or student’s work
- looking out for telltale signs such as American spelling, the style of grammar, tone, too many commas
- careful use of AI checkers or detectors – but be very mindful of false positives, and do not rely on this alone
- manage the environment in terms of location and time (it could be supervised)
- manage the format and types of questions
- include self-reflection activities
- use authenticity declarations from ākonga or students.
How to authenticate student work for external assessment
Teachers must closely supervise the process of evidence collection to ensure that candidates:
- do not copy from another person or source without appropriate acknowledgement
- do not receive guidance, scaffolding, instruction, assistance, or assessment conditions beyond what is specified as permissible in the Assessment Specifications.
The use of chatbots, generative AI, paraphrasing tools, or other tools that can automatically generate content is not permitted for external assessment.
Material generated by these tools should not be submitted as part of the candidate’s work.
AI technology and academic integrity
Both AI technology and tools for identifying AI use will continue to develop over the coming years.
As a member of the Global Academic Integrity Network (GAIN), NZQA will continue to monitor overseas responses to the use of ChatGPT in education and support the academic integrity of assessment and qualifications in New Zealand.
More resources
Our publication, Aromatawai and the Principles of Assessment, contains a section on authenticity:
Ka pono, ka tika, ka TŪTURU te aromatawai ki tā te ākonga titiro
Assessment is AUTHENTIC: it affirms the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired by ākonga, and reflects real world contexts
Download a copy of Aromatawai and the Principles of Assessment [PDF, 5.3 MB]
Tāku Reo, Tāku Mahi - My Voice, My Work
This is an online learning module for kaiako or teachers on authenticity and it is available on Pūtake, the NZQA learning management system.
This can be found in the Short Courses category. It includes strategies to address AI evidence.
The aim of this module is to emphasise the importance of students submitting their own work for assessments.
Log in to Pūtake (external link)