University and Students' Union issue update on Turnitin

07 Oct 2026

Turnitin, the software used to submit academic work and check for plagiarism, has postponed a proposed change that would have allowed it to use student work to train AI models.

Following concerns raised by students at Manchester and across the higher education sector, the change will now not be introduced before the 2027/28 academic year.

The Students' Union raised students' concerns with University leadership, and the University and Students' Union have been working closely on the issue. We will continue to keep our relationship with Turnitin under review ahead of the new implementation date and will continue to monitor the use of AI by third-party suppliers and contractors.

Students have been informed of the latest position through a joint update from the University and Students' Union, which also thanks those who raised concerns and confirms that further updates will be shared as the situation develops.