Can teachers use ChatGPT to grade student work?

Teachers can use AI to help with feedback on low-stakes work, but not as the final judge of a grade, and not by pasting identifiable student work into a consumer chatbot. The teacher must check and own every mark. For anything high-stakes, keep AI out of the marking.

What official guidance says

• Privacy: The UK Department for Education's generative AI guidance recommends that "personal data is not used in generative AI tools" and that nothing entered should allow an individual to be identified. It also notes generative AI could help with feedback and reduce the marking burden.
• High-stakes marking: Ofqual, England's exams regulator, says using AI as the sole mechanism for awarding marks does not comply with its regulations, and that AI is not yet ready to take over high-stakes marking (Ofqual blog, January 2026).
• US schools: student work can be part of an education record. Sharing it with a vendor without a school agreement can fall outside FERPA's protections (see Is AI allowed in schools under COPPA and FERPA?).

Where AI feedback can help

In the 2025 Gallup teacher survey, 57% of teachers who used AI for grading and feedback said it improved the quality of that work at least somewhat. It is most useful for:

• Suggesting next-step comments against your success criteria
• Spotting common errors across anonymized samples
• Rewording feedback into child-friendly language
• Generating model answers at different levels to discuss with the class

A safe workflow

1. Use a school-approved tool with a data agreement, not a personal account.
2. Anonymize first. Remove names, student IDs and personal details from the text.
3. Give the AI your rubric. Paste the success criteria and ask for feedback against each one.
4. Ask for feedback, not a grade. "List two strengths and one next step against these criteria" is safer than "Give this a score out of 20".
5. Check everything. AI can miss what a student was trying to do, praise errors or be harsher on unusual writing styles.
6. Make the final judgement yourself and record it in your normal way.

Where to keep AI out

• Tests, exams and coursework that counts toward qualifications
• Report-card grades and placement decisions
• Work containing personal disclosures, health or safeguarding information
• Very young children's writing, where invented spelling and developing handwriting need a teacher's eye

Tell students and parents

If AI helps draft feedback, say so. Students should know the comments were reviewed by their teacher, and parents should know which tool was used and how data was protected. For other low-risk ways to reclaim time, see How can teachers use AI to save time? and AI tools for teachers in 2026.