Aug 12, 2026 07:00:00
While generative AI is a useful tool for work and research, in recent years even students and children have started using AI for homework and report assignments. As a result, problems have arisen where students who use AI get better grades than students who study diligently on their own, or where students get good grades but fail to acquire the academic skills and knowledge they should have. In response to this, Denmark has mandated oral examinations of submitted written assignments for high school students in order to eradicate academic cheating through AI.
Danish pupils will have to orally defend essays in attempt to combat AI cheating | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/06/students-ai-cheating-schools-denmark
Denmark Requires Oral Defenses for Students’ Written Work to Counter AI Cheating | Ukraine news – #Mezha
https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/ca117584_denmark_requires_oral/
Among the educational uses of AI by students and children, there are also beneficial applications for studying, such as delving deeper into the content written in textbooks or having parts that were difficult to understand from the teacher’s explanations explained at their own level.
However, a survey of secondary school teachers in the UK revealed that two-thirds of respondents felt that the use of AI was negatively impacting students’ writing skills, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills. In fact, Norway announced a policy in June 2026 to ban the use of AI in primary schools in principle to avoid negative effects on education.
Amidst this situation, on August 6, 2026, the Danish Ministry of Education announced new measures to combat student cheating using AI. These measures target students aged 16-19 attending high schools in Denmark, and one of them is to ‘mandate oral examinations on written assignments completed at home.’
In Denmark, approximately 9,000 high school students submit a large-scale report assignment called ‘ større skriftlige opgave (SSO) ‘ each year. Going forward, they will not only be required to submit the assignment, but also to give an oral explanation of its content. The Ministry of Education says it will consult with each school regarding how to conduct the oral examination.
In addition, high schools will be required to use tools to monitor computer usage during written exams. They will also be required to install firewalls to filter the content available on the school network during exams and classes.
In addition to these measures, high schools are also encouraged to encourage students to work on more written assignments in a “controlled environment.” This requires schools to monitor students’ work processes, provide appropriate feedback, and develop more accurate assessment criteria.
Danish Education Minister Magnus Heunicke stated, ‘Unfortunately, cheating using AI is a problem in high schools. We need to take action immediately,’ and emphasized the importance of ensuring that AI does not impair students’ abilities, awareness, and ability to think for themselves.
This report has also become a topic of discussion on the social news site Hacker News.
Danish high schoolers will have to verbally defend written assignments | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49224294
According to one user, in Denmark, oral examinations are already used for master’s degree programs and above. This user has experience in evaluating graduate students and explained that in the examination, 3 to 5 professors play the role of ‘foolish students,’ while the graduate student gives a 15-minute lecture on their topic using a blackboard.