One in four people out of the general public, heads, teachers, parents, students, universities and employers would be happy for GCSE and A-level exams to be marked using artificial intelligence, a survey has found.

In total, 26 per cent of respondents to a new YouGov survey said they would be happy for AI to be used to mark exams, although universities, teachers and headteachers were more likely to disagree with the idea.

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Six in ten teachers said they would not be happy with this form of marking, while 58 per cent of headteachers also disagreed with the idea.

The annual perceptions survey, carried out for Ofqual, found that young people were most likely to agree with the idea, with 36 per cent stating they would like exams to be marked in this way.

The survey showed stronger overall support for the use of AI to check marking accuracy in GCSE and A level exams. Four in ten - 42 per cent - of all respondents agreed with this idea, with over forty per cent of head teachers in agreement. Universities were the most likely to disagree with the idea, with 44 per cent stating they would not be happy for AI to be used in this way.

As a group, head teachers were the least likely to agree with the idea that onscreen examinations would be fairer for pupils than pen and paper exams. The survey found that just 23 per cent of heads agreed that pupils sitting GCSEs and A levels on a computer would be fairer, although nearly half of young people - 48 per cent - agreed with the idea.

And six in ten - 58 per cent - of heads disagreed with the idea that onscreen exams would be more manageable for schools and colleges, along with sixty per cent of teachers, while 26 per cent of young people were in agreement.