Turnitin says it will not update licence terms before 1 September 2027. York's students' union says planned changes could allow student work to train AI models; the university will review any changes, while Southampton is phasing out the service.
Turnitin says the delay gives it time to discuss any changes with customers. It says it does not use customer or student work to train the AI assistant in Turnitin Clarity, but may use anonymized student submissions to improve its detection and assessment tools.
York said it understood its terms would not change and student data would not be used to train Turnitin's AI services; the university will meet with its students' union to discuss concerns. Southampton says it is phasing out the service immediately and will not renew its contract after 2026–27, citing a lack of clarity about possible future changes. It is evaluating alternatives to maintain academic integrity. Uni Compare says 98% of UK universities used Turnitin products.
