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  6. GenAI A,B,C Assessment Categorisations Guidance and Template Text

GenAI A,B,C Assessment Categorisations Guidance and Template Text

Please find below an editable template originally created by Dr Ricardo Condinhoto in the Faculty of Engineering and Design. Written to be student-facing, staff can use the template during the assessment design process, to guide their thinking around GenAI use within their assessments, and then communicate to students where such use would be productive or otherwise:

GenAI-–-Assessment-Categorisation-Type-B-Possible-Uses Nov 2025Download

Published on: 07/08/2024 · Last updated on: 24/11/2025

Introduction

To assist colleagues to allocate their assessments appropriately using the ABC Assessment Categorisations model, we have prepared guidance for each type of assessment. If you would like to discuss Type C assessments in more detail, please contact Abby Osborne or Ellie Kendall directly as these are necessarily very bespoke and nuanced. We have also included template text to be used in assessment briefs, handbooks or similar when setting Type B or Type C assessments. The template text may need minor edits to suit your context, but captures key information to consider when using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as data privacy, equity of access and the proper acknowledgment and referencing of GenAI use. For further guidance on what to include in assignment briefs more generally please consult this article.

In preparation for academic year 2026/27, we advise familiarising yourself with the two-lane approach to assessment categorisation. This approach is complementary to our existing A,B,C categories, but marks a shift of emphasis in our approach to AI and assessment.

Red A, Yellow B, Green C.
Created by Microsoft Copilot

Category guidance

Type AUse of GenAI is not permitted.
Type BUse of GenAI is optional as an assistive tool for specific defined processes.
Type CUse of GenAI is integral to the assessment.

In Type A assessments, the use of any form of GenAI is not permitted. The rationale behind this should be made clear to students. This may be because the format, intended learning outcomes or broader aims of the assessment mean that the use of GenAI is impractical, lacks utility or impinges on the development or testing of their independent criticality.

When writing assessment briefs for Type B assignments, where GenAI is permitted as an assistive tool for specific defined processes, we advise thinking carefully about the following principles:

  1. Be very clear on when and where GenAI can productively be used (the bulleted list of possible uses below may help with this.)
  2. Provide a clear rationale for why you are encouraging the use of GenAI in certain instances or discouraging it in others. This will help gain student buy-in, build trust and help discourage any breaches of academic integrity principles.
  3. When teaching, model productive uses of GenAI for your students for certain aspects of the assignment. Students are learning about GenAI and are not necessarily expert in its use.
  4. Encourage students to use GenAI in a targeted and reflective way rather than throughout their assignment. This will help them assess the benefits and limitations of GenAI for different uses, as well as helping them foster their own independent criticality.
  5. Take a course-wide approach when determining when and how students may use GenAI. It is important that students become familiar with the various uses for GenAI in their discipline, but also that they are able to develop a broad base of academic skills without the use of GenAI. One way of doing this might be to have a mixture of Type A, B and C assessments and this balanced approach will help make students more effective in completing their Type B assignments.
  6. Consider how student use of GenAI relates to your intended learning outcomes (ILOs). In Type B assessments, GenAI may be used as an assistive tool to support students’ attainment of their ILOs; however, the suite of assessments they undertake during their programme of study should enable students to demonstrate that they are not over-reliant on GenAI use to meet ILOs. If you would like a discussion of this in your particular context, please contact the CLT.

Linked to the different stages involved in producing an assignment, here are some possible uses of GenAI that you may want to consider permitting, encouraging or discouraging. These are rough headings, so we advise supplying students with further details when communicating them in class, assessment briefs, course handbooks or elsewhere:

Assessment preparation:

  • Initial idea generation
  • Creating a format or outline
  • Summarising notes
  • Creating an initial list of sources

Production:

  • Analysing data
  • Generating text, images, models or multimedia elements
  • Performing calculations or creating code

Editing:

  • Refining, enhancing, or correcting text, images, models, multimedia elements, coding or formulae. 
  • Improving spelling, punctuation and grammar
  • Ensuring the tone of the writing is appropriate for the assignment
  • Formatting references

Clarity around what students can and can’t do benefits everyone. Below is an editable template – originally created by the Faculty of Engineering and Design – to help staff outline the specific GenAI processes permitted (or not) within their assessments. The template offers structured guidance for staff to adapt and communicate expectations effectively, ensuring both transparency and academic integrity.  

GenAI is a powerful resource – and with the right scaffolding, we can support our students in using it thoughtfully to enhance their learning. 


GenAI – Assessment Categorisation Type B Acceptable UsesDownload

Student-facing text that can be downloaded and used when setting Type B and Type C assessments:

Template-TextDownload

If students are being asked to engage with GenAI as part of the assessment process, please consider ethical issues around GenAI use, including equity and access. We would recommend, for general purposes, using Microsoft Copilot. This is free, and when logged in with a UoB account, this ensures user data is protected. It can also generate images. If you need more specialist tools, please let us know. We cannot promise at this stage that these will be fulfilled, but we will work closely to discuss this with DDAT on your behalf. 

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