{"id":22380,"date":"2026-08-22T15:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/?page_id=22380"},"modified":"2026-08-22T15:13:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:13:34","slug":"rationale-for-retiring-turnitin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/rationale-for-retiring-turnitin\/","title":{"rendered":"Rationale for Retiring Turnitin"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\r\n \r\n ← Back to Supporting Changes in Digital Learning and AI\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n For colleagues\r\n <\/span>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

\r\n Following consultation and approval by the University Executive Board, the University\r\n plans to retire Turnitin Feedback Studio upon the end of the current contract on\r\n 31 July 2027<\/strong>. Blackboard Assignment with SafeAssign will become the\r\n single system for online coursework submission and marking. The reasons for this\r\n decision are set out below.\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\n Please note:<\/strong> In order to ensure that the University has copies of all\r\n student-submitted work in its archive, even though the contract does not formally end\r\n until 31 July 2027<\/strong>, no new Turnitin submissions will be able to be made\r\n after the end of Semester 1 in the 2026\/27 academic year<\/strong>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Enhancing the student experience<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

\r\n The University currently operates two parallel systems for coursework submission.\r\n These are Turnitin and Blackboard Assignment. This can create confusion for students\r\n who must navigate different interfaces depending on the module and generates a high\r\n volume of last-minute support calls linked to Turnitin use. This is evidenced by both\r\n the number of support tickets at peak coursework submission times and by analysis of\r\n National Student Survey comments. Blackboard Assignment already handles approximately\r\n one-third of all submissions across the University and offers comparable functionality\r\n to Turnitin in several areas, including in-text commenting, quick-mark equivalents,\r\n and rubric-based marking.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n

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Data Protection Concerns<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

\r\n A data protection impact assessment conducted by the University's Information\r\n Compliance Manager recently identified several concerns regarding Turnitin's\r\n compliance with the UK GDPR. These concerns were sufficiently serious to be\r\n escalated to the Chief Operating Officer. Key issues include:\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n
  • \r\n Inability to return all personal data at contract end relating to both student and marker.\r\n <\/li>\r\n\r\n
  • \r\n Turnitin retains students' submissions indefinitely within its database for the\r\n purposes of similarity matching. The proportionality of this retention, and whether\r\n adequate transparency is provided to students about it, were flagged as concerns\r\n in the DPIA.\r\n <\/li>\r\n\r\n
  • \r\n Turnitin's newer add-on product, Turnitin Clarity, captures significantly more\r\n granular behavioural data, including keystroke patterns, typing speed, pause\r\n duration, and complete video recording of the drafting process. Adopting such a\r\n product would substantially increase the University's data protection exposure.\r\n In addition, the use of a product like Turnitin Clarity raises significant ethical\r\n questions about the use of AI to effectively conduct surveillance.\r\n <\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n
    \r\n

    Records retention and regulatory compliance<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n The Office for Students requires universities to retain students' coursework for up\r\n to 9 years. With approximately 60,000 assignments submitted annually through Turnitin\r\n and feedback not exportable, continuing to rely on Turnitin creates a growing\r\n compliance risk.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n

    Diminishing value of plagiarism detection<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n Traditional plagiarism detection works by matching submitted text against a database\r\n of existing sources. Generative AI produces original text that does not match any prior\r\n source, rendering similarity checking largely ineffective against the most significant\r\n current integrity risk. While Turnitin has introduced AI detection capabilities, these\r\n remain probabilistic rather than conclusive and carry a recognised risk of false\r\n positives, particularly for non-native English speakers. The University's position is\r\n that assessment design, rather than detection technology, is the most effective\r\n long-term response to generative AI.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n

    Alternative provision<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

    \r\n Blackboard Assignment with SafeAssign provides similarity checking and supports\r\n rubric-based marking, in-text feedback and annotation tools. Grammarly Authorship,\r\n included in the University's existing Grammarly licence, offers authorship reporting\r\n and functionality that allows students to demonstrate the authenticity of their work.\r\n An AI conversation tool has been available in Blackboard for 18 months. These tools\r\n collectively provide the capabilities the University requires without the data\r\n protection risks or duplication associated with maintaining Turnitin, including the\r\n additional cost.\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ← Back to Supporting Changes in Digital Learning and AI For colleagues Following consultation and approval by the University Executive Board, the University plans to retire Turnitin Feedback Studio upon the end of the current contract on 31 July 2027….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22380","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22380"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22384,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22380\/revisions\/22384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/blackboardhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}