Study tools, including AI chat tools, can explain a topic another way, make practice questions or check your reasoning. That is learning.
They can also produce an answer that you then submit as your own. That is a problem for your assessment.
We are a tuition team, not an exam centre. Your centre applies the assessment rules and sees your coursework. This page explains who decides what, and how to use tools while keeping your work your own.
Who is responsible for what?
- Cambridge sets the assessment rules in each syllabus, including what is expected for coursework or practical components.
- Your school or exam centre applies those rules, supervises the work it oversees and tells you what help is allowed.
- You are responsible for the work you submit and for following those rules.
- Your teacher here explains and gives feedback. Assessed work stays the student’s own.
What is usually safe, and what needs checking?
| Use | Status |
|---|---|
| Asking a tool to explain a concept in simpler words | Usually study help; check your school’s own rules |
| Asking for practice questions, then answering them yourself | Study help |
| Comparing your own working with a model method | Study help |
| Pasting an assessed task and submitting the output | Not your own work |
| Submitting coursework with help that your centre or syllabus has not allowed | Check first; ask your centre |
The first three need no special permission. For the last two, check the current rules from your centre and Cambridge.
What should you check, and where?
- Ask your subject teacher which components are assessed by coursework, practical or project work, and what help is permitted.
- Read the assessment section of the syllabus for your code on the Cambridge page. See practical and coursework route checks.
- Ask your exam centre for its written rules on outside help and tools.
- Keep a short record of how you worked: drafts, notes and what help you used.
How can you use tools and still own the work?
- Attempt first. Write your own answer or outline before you ask a tool anything.
- Ask for explanation, not the finished piece. “Why does this step work?” helps you learn.
- Write it in your own words. If you cannot explain it aloud, you do not understand it well enough yet.
- Check facts in your notes or the syllabus. Tools can be wrong, and they are not a mark scheme.
The answer-evidence planner on this site helps you structure your own claim, evidence and explanation. It is not an examiner, and it will not write anything for you to submit.
A short worked example
A student must write an evaluation for a coursework-style task. She first writes her own three-point outline. She then asks a tool, “Is my second point a claim or evidence?” and gets an explanation of the difference.
She fixes the outline herself, writes the draft in her own words and keeps her outline and notes. Before submitting, she asks her subject teacher whether the help she used was allowed.
Where does tuition fit in?
A one-to-one teacher can discuss your reasoning, point out where your argument is thin and help you practise. The writing stays yours.
If essays or evaluation answers are where marks slip, ask about a paid one-hour trial. See the subjects overview, and read tuition versus exam registration to see who does what.