Does Durham University use AI detection? No
Short answer
No. Durham University does not run AI detection on submissions, so no AI score is generated for your work.
Module rules on permitted AI use still apply either way, and a detector score is never the whole case — the university’s own statement and what it means for you are below.
What Durham University has said
Opted out. DCAD FAQ: asked whether Durham has the Turnitin AI detector — "No we don't", explaining the feature doesn't fit the university's approach to assessment, citing unverifiable outputs and demographic bias.
Source (No date on page): DCAD FAQs
The university's page carries no publication date; the statement was last verified against the live page on 23 August 2026.
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What this means if you study here
Durham's learning-and-teaching FAQ answers the question directly — asked whether Durham has Turnitin's AI detector: 'No we don't' — explaining the feature doesn't fit the university's approach to assessment and citing unverifiable outputs and demographic bias. The bias point is significant: Durham names the concern that detection errors fall unevenly on some writers.
No Turnitin AI percentage exists for Durham submissions. AI-use expectations are set per module, and concerns are handled through the ordinary misconduct process on evidence you can see and answer.
Turnitin at Durham University
Durham University has opted out of Turnitin's AI writing indicator, so no Turnitin AI score is generated for submissions. Similarity (plagiarism) checking is a separate Turnitin feature and remains the sector norm — an opt-out of AI detection does not mean submissions go unchecked for source matching.
How the AI writing report behaves wherever it is enabled — the 300-word minimum, the 1–19% asterisk band, and why the score is never proof on its own — is covered in does Turnitin detect AI?
Before you submit, anywhere
- Policies change and are re-verified here quarterly — the university’s linked statement above is always the authority, and your module brief overrides everything.
- Whatever the institutional toggle, keep your drafts and version history: process evidence decides disputes, not scores.
- No third-party tool predicts a Turnitin result — here is why. Use checks to understand your own writing, not to chase a number.
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