Clearer AI rules are needed in Denmark’s upper-secondary schools, teachers and student representatives say, after new figures showed a further decline in written Danish exam results. They warn that relying on generative artificial intelligence during the school year can leave students without the writing practice they need when they sit exams without it.
The calls follow figures published by the Ministry of Education (Undervisningsministeriet) on 29 October 2026. The ministry says this summer’s graduates were the first cohort to have had access to generative AI throughout their upper-secondary education. The results do not, however, establish that AI caused the decline.
Written Danish results fall while overall grades hold steady
Across the stx, hhx and htx upper-secondary programmes, the average mark in the written Danish A-level exam fell from 6.3 in 2025 to 6.1 in 2026, according to the ministry’s figures. It stood at 6.6 in 2018.
The largest recent fall was in general upper-secondary schools, known as stx. Their average dropped from 6.5 to 6.2 in a year, reaching its lowest level since 2012. In 2018, it was 6.8.
The distinction between this subject and wider performance matters: the ministry says overall exam results across upper-secondary education were broadly unchanged from 2025, in both written and oral examinations. Its historical table also shows that the decline in written Danish began before the latest graduating cohort.
Teachers want AI rules to protect independent work
Anders Frikke, Chair of the upper-secondary teachers’ union (Gymnasielærerne, GL), argues that students are increasingly handing thinking and learning over to machines. In a statement responding to the results, he said teachers had warned before the summer exams that students risked struggling when they had to work independently.
The union itself acknowledges that falling grades do not prove AI is the cause. It nevertheless wants a response that goes beyond detecting cheating.
Its proposals include clear declarations of AI use in major written assignments, exam preparation without AI, and more exam components without digital aids. It also calls for professional development and time for teachers to redesign lessons, follow students’ work and provide feedback.
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, Chair of the Danish Upper Secondary School Students’ Association (Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, DGS), told Danish broadcaster DR that students also see a mismatch between everyday AI use and exams where it is prohibited. He called for politicians to establish clearer rules and teaching on how schools should handle the technology, arguing that approaches currently vary across the country.
The government promises further measures
Minister for Education Magnus Heunicke said the figures concerned him and warned that students could learn less if AI became a shortcut around writing, analysis and expressing their own ideas. In the ministry’s statement, he said:
Our young people must learn to think for themselves. Also in a time of artificial intelligence.
The ministry says an August package against AI cheating includes screen monitoring during exams and more written work completed at school under controlled conditions. A political agreement reached in September also provides for students on the hf upper-secondary programme to defend their major written assignment orally.
Heunicke has promised further initiatives. GL is asking him to specify what those measures will involve and when they will arrive, alongside changes that help students develop their own skills throughout the school year.
