Syllabus AI policy

In plain English

The rule that actually applies to your assignment is usually the one printed in the module handbook, not the one on the university website.

Two courses in the same department can have opposite policies in the same term, and both are valid.

A worked example

Four real policy shapes, and what each one permits.

Prohibited:
  "No generative AI may be used at any stage of this assignment."

Permitted with disclosure:
  "AI tools may be used for planning and proofreading. Declare any
   use in the cover sheet."

Permitted for some tasks only:
  "You may use AI for code comments and debugging. Prose in the
   report must be your own."

Silent:
  [no mention anywhere in the handbook]

The third shape is the one people misread most often, because it grants permission and withholds it in the same sentence. Task-scoped policies require you to know which part of your submission is which.

The fourth is the common case, and it is not permission. Where a course is silent, the institution-wide policy applies underneath it.

Where both are silent, asking in writing produces an answer you can rely on, and a record that you asked.

Why it matters for AI detection

Because the specific rule beats the general one, and students who read only the university-wide policy routinely miss a stricter module-level rule that is the one they will actually be judged against.

It also matters when defending yourself. "The policy did not prohibit this" is a strong position when you can point at the handbook, and quoting the applicable policy is more effective than describing your intentions.

Policies change between terms and are sometimes updated mid-course. Keeping the version you were given, dated, is worth the ten seconds it costs.

Commonly confused with

Honour code

An honour code is an institution-wide commitment, usually broad and principle-based. A syllabus policy is course-specific and operational. The code says be honest; the syllabus says whether you may use a grammar checker.

Academic integrity policy

The institutional policy is the floor and applies everywhere. A syllabus policy sits on top of it and can be stricter. It cannot normally be more permissive than the institutional rule.

Read next

• What counts as AI assistance
• Academic integrity
• Detection, for students