Issue Universities losing students to cheaper AI-driven online courses

Summary

Over the longer term, the report suggests that universities could struggle to attract students. The reason is that online courses may offer a cheaper alternative route into higher education. In such courses, AI could design the curriculum and give instant feedback on submitted work. In the short term too, the report expects AI to support learning at all ages through tailored lesson plans, marking and real-time feedback, making private tutoring no longer a privilege of the wealthy. This could help retraining and widen opportunity, but it poses a challenge to established higher education institutions. The report explains that the demand for retraining is growing as digitisation and AI make some workers' skills obsolete.