Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 16:00 BST, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 16:02 BST, 6 July 2026
Homework is now 'worse than useless' for improving children's skills because so many are using artificial intelligence to complete it, according to a report.Polling of 2,000 parents found almost three fifths – 57 per cent – believe their offspring use AI tools such as ChatGPT and Grammarly to aid their homework.This compares with just 47 per cent who said it in a separate poll of 6,000 parents ten months previously, suggesting there has been a rise.Both surveys are included in the Parent Voice Project report, called How Parents Engage with Schools, published today.The report said the use of AI for homework varies significantly across the country, with Londoners using it more than people in other regions.Meanwhile, families with graduate parents are more likely to use AI.The two polls were conducted in June 2025 and April 2026 by the research consultancy Public First.The report said: 'This is a fast-moving issue. Homework is now 'worse than useless' for improving children's skills because so many are using artificial intelligence to complete it, according to a report (file picture)'The proportion of parents saying their child has used AI to help with homework has increased.'This shift suggests that AI use in homework is becoming increasingly more common, and that schools and parents are having to respond to a changing landscape in real time.'One father with two teenage children told researchers: 'I've let my son do it a couple of times with subjects I know he's not going to do well in.'So if it's philosophy, [using AI] is just easy and he can just get it done.'Another father with children aged 12, ten and six, said: 'I found out at one point that my daughter was just taking a picture [of her homework] and AI was giving her the answer.'A third with children aged six and 16 said his son 'basically just doctors a few words around that look a bit suspicious' after he has used AI.Meanwhile, a mother told researchers: 'In our workplace we're being told to use AI, and that going forward those who can use it will have jobs that are a bit more secure. And yet we're trying to stop children using it and use their brain. Getting that balance right is difficult.'Fiona Forbes, the founder of the Parent Voice Project, said the jump in AI use was 'staggering' and a 'challenge'.'The school system needs to get across this challenge as soon as possible and start working with parents on advice and guidance, or the whole idea of homework will soon be worse than useless,' she added.It comes after a survey of nearly 10,000 teachers conducted earlier this year by the National Education Union found 66 per cent believed pupils' critical thinking had declined because of AI use.And Sir Ian Bauckham, the chief regulator at Ofqual, the exams regulator, said last week that plans for written coursework in GCSE, A-level and T-level qualifications would face 'more scrutiny' due to the risk of 'AI fraud'.Earlier this year, a poll by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank of 1,000 university students found 95 per cent admitted to using AI tools when completing assessments.Many said it was impacting on their skills and learning, with one respondent complaining: 'It is making us all lazy.'
