Turnitin's latest report reveals a significant reduction in the outsourcing of student writing to AI when using its Clarity platform. The report, released on October 7, 2026, shows that students in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia/New Zealand are less likely to rely heavily on AI for their writing assignments when they engage with Turnitin Clarity.
In the United States, the report highlights that 14.3% of non-Turnitin Clarity submissions had an AI writing score greater than 80%, compared to just 7.6% within the Clarity environment. Similar trends were observed in Australia and New Zealand, with 6.7% of non-Clarity submissions exceeding the 80% AI score, while only 3.96% of Clarity submissions did. The UK showed a smaller difference, with 9.6% of non-Clarity submissions and 7.2% of Clarity submissions exceeding the 80% threshold.
Annie Chechitelli, Chief Product Officer at Turnitin, emphasized the importance of transparency in writing environments. She noted that when students understand how their work is evaluated, they experience less anxiety about AI detection and are less tempted to out This transparency, she argues, fosters critical thinking and supports learning integrity.
The report also sheds light on how students interact with AI tools. Analysis of nearly 840,000 prompts submitted through Turnitin Clarity's AI assistant revealed that 66% of students completed their assignments without using the AI assistant. Meanwhile, 20% used between one and five prompts, and only 14% engaged with six or more prompts per assignment. This pattern was consistent across secondary and higher education in all regions studied.
AI Usage Patterns in Education
The report identifies distinct patterns in AI usage between secondary and higher education students. Secondary students often use AI early in the writing process, with brainstorming and outline drafting being the most popular prompts. In contrast, higher education students tend to use AI for quality checks and evaluation, with feedback against rubrics and assignment organization being the most frequently used prompts.
Despite the increased adoption of institutional AI policies, many educators and students remain unclear about their practical implementation. At the institutional level, 50% of institutions keep the AI assistant always enabled, 45% allow for flexible use, and only 5% completely disable it. However, at the educator level, the approach is more rigid, with 73% of classes having the AI assistant always enabled and 13% always disabled.
Turnitin's report suggests that without practical tools to adjust AI access by assignment, institutional policies may not effectively translate into classroom practice. This situation leaves educators in a challenging position, unable to fully protect learning integrity or teach students responsible AI use.
Turnitin, a global company with over 16,000 customers in 185 countries, continues to support educators and institutions in navigating the responsible use of AI in education. The company aims to provide tools that enhance learning integrity and address the evolving needs of today's educational landscape.
