Category: Turnitin

Turnitin AI writing reports update

Posted on by digitaleducation

Turnitin has informed us that they updated the AI writing report on 14 October to improve accuracy while keeping false positives to a minimum. This update is part of their ongoing work to respond to the evolution of generative AI.

How will this update affect your AI reports?

Previously generated AI writing reports will not be updated retroactively. However, this improvement may result in some changes in AI scores between draft submissions made before the update and final submissions made after the update.

This update is automatically applied to all new submissions to Turnitin assignments and to Blackboard assignments with Turnitin enabled. You will not see any visual changes to the AI writing report or its highlighting, and you do not need to change any settings to benefit from the update.

Reminder about AI report interpretation

Although this technology has improved since its release, Turnitin AI writing reports can occasionally produce false positives. This means the report might incorrectly flag text as AI-generated. For this reason, Turnitin results should always be reviewed by subject experts and used as supporting evidence, not as a replacement for academic judgement.

If you have any questions about this update, please message us at digital-education@bristol.ac.uk.

[RESOLVED] Turnitin Delay in Similarity Reports and Student Upload Time

Posted on by digitaleducation

We previously reported a service disruption with Turnitin that was causing slow student uploads and a delay in Similarity Report generation. This issue has now been resolved by the supplier.

Reports that were stuck in pending should now have been generated, and student submission times have returned to normal. If you are still experiencing issues with report generation, please contact digital-education@bristol.ac.uk for support.

[CLOSED] Turnitin Delay in Similarity Reports and Student Upload Time

Posted on by digitaleducation

The Digital Education Office has been made aware of an unexpected service incident affecting Turnitin. During this time students may find that submission uploads are slow and both staff and students may find that similarity reports are stuck processing.

We have tested this locally. We are finding a delay in processing reports, but currently no delay in upload times.

Our expectation is that stuck reports will process once the issue has passed.

We are monitoring the reports from the supplier. We will update this post with more information when it becomes available.

 

Scheduled Turnitin Maintenance, Saturday 25 October, 2025

Posted on by digitaleducation

Turnitin have informed us that their services will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance on Saturday 25 October between 16:00 and 22:00 BST. During this maintenance window, users will be unable to submit or mark papers, or to view marks, feedback or similarity and AI reports.

Further information is available on the Turnitin status page.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Closed] Issue identified with Turnitinuk Bulk Uploads

Posted on by digitaleducation

We have identified an issue with Turnitinuk regarding bulk uploading files.

When attempting to bulk upload files, you will receive an error message that states, ‘Editing has been disabled for this native account’. Due to this, you will be unable to upload any files. 

If your current workflow is affected, please get in touch with the Digital Education Office at digital-education@bristol.ac.uk with the subject line “Issues with Turnitin Bulk Upload”. Please include the Unit ID and the name of the affected assessment in the content of the email.

[Closed] Global Amazon Web Services issue

Posted on by Hanrahan Highland

This issue was resolved, starting at 10.32 on 20 October 2025.

There is currently a global issue with Amazon Web Services, which is causing multiple problems with other cloud-based services, including Blackboard and Turnitin. We are monitoring the situation and are in contact with the service suppliers, and will update this blog when we have further information.

Blackboard is still accessible and operational – the main impact is that you may be unable to access other, connected tools from within Blackboard, such as Turnitin and Re/Play.

Turnitin AI detection update

Posted on by digitaleducation

Turnitin has expanded its capabilities to detect the output of AI tools that re-arrange AI-generated text in an attempt to bypass AI-detection tools (sometimes called “humanisers”).

This AI detection update is incorporated into Turnitin’s AI writing report and does not require any changes in your assignment settings. There are no visual changes to the report or the highlighting in the report. Reports generated before August 27, 2025 will need to be resubmitted if you want them to make use of this new capability.

Key changes for assessment workflows in Blackboard Ultra

Posted on by Dan Wilson

As many of you will already be aware, Blackboard Ultra has new and changed functionality that may necessitate changes in some assessment workflows around the University. While we have been actively engaging with school leads and local Digital Education colleagues in areas known to be using the affected workflows, we now ask that everyone reviews their current assessment workflows to ensure that you are prepared for the move to Ultra.

If your school or faculty is considering the use of any of the following assessment tools or practices this coming academic year, please read the relevant sections below.

Turnitin

There are minimal changes to this tool in Blackboard Ultra, but the way in which you access the Assignment Inbox has changed slightly. Please read through the updated Turnitin workflow guidance to see these changes.

Blackboard Assignments (download/upload, offline marking)

There are minimal changes to this tool in Blackboard Ultra, but the way in which you set up the assignment and manage the Gradebook (formerly Grade Centre) has changed. Please read through the updated Blackboard Offline workflow guidance to see these changes.

Continuous improvements are being made to this tool to address some of the issues you may have previously encountered. We will blog about these improvements when they become available.

As a new feature, Blackboard Assignments now include the ability to automatically run submissions through Turnitin to generate similarity reports. However, this practice comes with several limitations that must be considered. Please see the assessment planning page before using this feature.

Blackboard Assignments (non-anonymous, online marking)

There are changes to this workflow regarding setting up the assignment and managing the Gradebook (formerly Grade Centre). Marking has remained largely the same, but the way you access submissions has changed slightly. Please read through the updated Blackboard Online workflow guidance to see these changes.

As a new feature, Blackboard Assignments now include the ability to automatically run submissions through Turnitin to generate similarity reports. However, this practice comes with several limitations that must be considered. Please see the assessment planning page before using this feature.

Blackboard Assignments (anonymous, online marking)

There are significant changes to this practice. If you previously used the Mark with usernames hidden functionality, this is no longer available in Blackboard Ultra. Following feedback from Bristol and other UK institutions, Anthology (Blackboard’s supplier) are working to develop functionality that allows for trust-based anonymity, but any solutions they develop will not be available for this academic year.

The more strict, fully anonymous, Hide student names function in Blackboard Ultra severely limits your ability to manage these assessments and significantly increases the burden on staff and students. The Digital Education Office recommends against using this. Please see the assessment planning page and contact the DEO for a consultation if this is a route you are considering.

If you are still considering which workflow to use, or if you have any questions regarding assessment practice, please don’t hesitate to contact the Digital Education Office (digital-education@bristol.ac.uk) for support.