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A UK-based survey has revealed a sharp increase in AI usage among university students, with over nine in 10 utilising the technology in some capacity. But what do these findings mean for legal education and the legal profession in Australia?
The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 UK university students to discover their use of generative AI (GenAI) tools in their academic work.
The Student Generative AI Survey 2025 discovered that nearly all students have incorporated AI into their studies, with 92 per cent of respondents reporting that they now use this technology in some form within their university work.
The adoption of GenAI among students has seen a significant surge compared to HEPI’s findings from last year’s survey, which reported that only 66 per cent of students were using AI.
The survey uncovered that the main uses of AI among students included generative text (64 per cent), enhancing and editing writing (39 per cent), and summarising notes (36 per cent).
GenAI use for assessments has also experienced a notable increase, with 88 per cent of students acknowledging its use for this purpose, compared to only 53 per cent who reported using the technology to assist with assignments in 2024.
Josh Freeman, the author of the HEPI report, highlighted that such a rapid shift in student behaviour regarding AI usage within just one year is rare. He told The Guardian: “Universities should take heed: generative AI is here to stay.”
Despite the widespread adoption of AI tools, the report found that only 36 per cent of students have received “support from their institution” in developing their AI skills.
While the HEPI study focuses on UK-based students, similar trends are emerging in Australia. Professor Alex Steel from the faculty of law and justice at UNSW revealed that last year, AI in HE found that 83 per cent of Australian students were using generative AI, with 44 per cent engaging with it on a weekly basis.
In the survey, Steel highlighted that it revealed that only 23 per cent of students felt prepared to utilise AI in their future careers.
Through his work with law students, Steel observed that they demonstrate “a wide range of experience and confidence with generative AI”. While he acknowledged that most students have experimented with the technology, he noted that few possess the “skill or confidence to use it extensively”.
Steel revealed that at UNSW, they “encourage” their students to use GenAI “responsibility” by introducing them to these concepts during their first year of study.
Lewis Patrick, the chief academic officer at the College of Law, noted that while students initially “lacked confidence” in using AI and were concerned about the “potential academic conduct ramifications”, he asserted that this hesitation is “fast disappearing”.
He said the College of Law “supports the findings” of the HEPI report and has also observed a recent increase in AI usage.
As the use of generative AI continues to rise among Australian law students, Patrick highlighted an “obvious danger” that the technology could “bypass learning” and simply “mimic the achievement of learning outcomes”.
He cautioned that if this trend persists, it could pose a “significant detriment” to students’ “fitness to practice” once they enter the legal profession.
To counteract this, Patrick revealed that the College of Law has implemented a three-pronged approach:
Provide “clear instructions” on GenAI’s “ethical and professional” use.
“Redesign learning tasks” to reduce the potential for students to use AI as a means of bypassing learning.
Use “oral assessment” across all subjects as the primary determinant of a student’s grade.
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Grace Robbie
