Starting next year, students in selected Danish high schools will be permitted to use artificial intelligence tools to prepare for English language exams, the country’s education ministry announced on Friday.
The pilot initiative, set to begin in 2026, will apply exclusively to the oral component of the high school English diploma exam. Once students receive their assigned topic, they will have one hour to prepare and will be allowed to use “all available tools, including generative AI,” before delivering their presentation in person to an examiner.
Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the government is seeking a balance between embracing digital innovation and maintaining academic integrity.
“We are launching pilot schemes to try to find the right balance,” Tesfaye explained. “With students growing up in both analogue and digital worlds, we need to prepare them for the realities they will face after school.”
For the written portion of the exam, students will still be required to complete part of it by hand to ensure independent language use and limit reliance on digital tools. This marks a shift from recent years, when students typed answers into internet-connected computers.
“For certain linguistic aspects, it is prudent to have exams that are totally non-digital,” Tesfaye noted. “That limits cheating and helps students to develop their own style of language.”
Denmark has allowed internet use during exams since 2008, but the AI pilot will be restricted to schools that volunteer to participate.
The move comes amid a wider global debate on whether AI represents a valuable learning aid for students entering a digital economy—or a risk to academic standards and independent thinking.
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