Danish high‑school pupils must orally defend written papers as ministry steps up fight against AI cheating

The Danish government has ordered that upper-secondary pupils must orally defend their major written assignments as an emergency measure to curb cheating aided by artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Education said on Thursday the oral defence will be mandatory for all exams taken at home and that it will work with schools to design an implementation framework.

Measures, scope and tools

The rule takes effect immediately and applies to students in upper-secondary education, which typically begins at around 16 years of age. It also covers roughly 9,000 students enrolled in the two‑year higher preparatory programme, who — the ministry noted — are required to submit large written papers each year.

In addition to the oral defence requirement, the ministry urged schools to use screen‑monitoring tools during exams and to install firewalls that limit the content pupils can access during examinations and lessons. Schools were also encouraged to organise more supervised in‑school tasks so teachers can better monitor students’ work.

Magnus Heunicke, the Minister of Education, said the steps were needed because pupils have been using AI to cheat. He said: "Unfortunately, we have a problem with pupils using artificial intelligence to cheat in upper secondary school. We must react immediately and we are launching these three initiatives." Heunicke added: "In the coming period, I will talk with schools, teachers and pupils about what can be done in the short and long term to ensure that artificial intelligence does not undermine pupils’ skills, their academic abilities and, most importantly, their capacity for independent thinking."

Three upper‑secondary organisations — representing school leaders, teachers and pupils — welcomed the emergency measures while warning that longer‑term solutions are needed because of the "rapid pace of technological development," the Gymnasier association said.

Anders Frike, chair of the Danish Association of Upper Secondary Teachers (GL), said teachers "welcome" the minister’s swift and decisive reaction but offered additional proposals for consideration, including requiring pupils to clearly state when artificial intelligence has been used in major written works and ensuring preparation for oral exams takes place without access to AI. Oskar Tenesberg Hofman, president of the Danish Association of Upper Secondary Students (DGS), said pupils also "welcome" the measures but stressed that any increased volume of school‑based written work must genuinely improve learning rather than merely shifting homework from home to school, and that students must be involved in developing long‑term solutions.

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