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AI detectors for UK schools compared
A criteria-based table of Feedback Flows versus Turnitin, GPTZero, Copyleaks, Originality.ai and Is It AI?, sourced from each vendor’s public pages and JCQ guidance as of October 2026. Honest where we do not lead.
- Named vendors
- Sourced cells
- Evidence over % only
- Updated Oct 2026
UK schools comparing AI detectors should weigh inspectable evidence, learner baselines, cohort similarity, data retention and UK governance, not just a headline accuracy percentage. Cells marked “Not documented” mean we could not verify the claim on public materials at the time of writing.
Last reviewed: 21 October 2026. Rival features change; re-check vendor sites before procurement. Also read Evidence over AI detection scores, our writing fingerprints and similarity scoring pages, and Turnitin alternatives.
Feedback Flows vs other AI detectors
| Criterion | Feedback Flows | Turnitin | GPTZero | Copyleaks | Originality.ai | Is It AI? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence shown (passage quotes vs % only) | Verified highlighted passages you can quote, plus overall likelihood; designed for teacher conversation, not score-only accusation | AI writing indicator with sentence/paragraph highlighting in institutional workflows (public AI writing pages) | Score plus sentence-level highlighting on public product (Oct 2026) | AI score with highlighted segments on public detector pages | Score-led product; highlight/scan detail depends on plan (public marketing) | Primarily percentage / classification UI on public free checker |
| Learner baseline / authorship comparison | Yes: writing fingerprints compare a new piece with the learner’s own past work | Authorship / revision history features exist in some Turnitin products; stylometric learner baseline not the core public AI pitch | Human writing “profiles” / advanced features on some plans; not framed as school portfolio baselines on public pages reviewed | Not prominently documented as per-learner school baselines on pages reviewed | Not framed as school learner-portfolio fingerprints on public pages reviewed | Not documented |
| Organisation similarity / collusion | Yes: organisation-only similarity scoring / similarity bank for cohort copying | Strong institutional similarity against web/publication databases and student paper repositories | Plagiarism / scan options on some plans; organisation bank for UK schools not the primary public story | Plagiarism detection against large corpora (public marketing) | Plagiarism scanning on paid plans (public marketing) | Not documented as cohort collusion for schools |
| Data retention & training use | Documented: school remains controller; DPA; no training public models on your submissions; see data commitments | Institutional contracts and retention options; check local agreement (public GDPR/enterprise materials) | Public privacy terms; education/enterprise plans differ — verify retention and model-training clauses | Public privacy / enterprise terms; verify retention and training use per plan | Public privacy / terms; verify whether submissions may be used to improve models | Consumer privacy page; school DPA uncommon on public materials reviewed |
| UK DPA / ICO posture | UK company; ICO registered ZC132812; DPA for schools/ITPs | Institutional GDPR/DPA via Turnitin contracts (widely used in UK HE/schools) | US-headquartered; GDPR claims on public pages — request UK school DPA before procurement | GDPR claims on public pages; request school/ITP DPA and transfer terms | GDPR claims on public pages; request school DPA | Not positioned as UK school processor with published DPA |
| JCQ guidance listing (where known) | Not named in JCQ’s example list (Oct 2026). Listing is not an endorsement for any vendor | Named as an example AI writing detection service in JCQ AI-use guidance | Named as an example in JCQ AI-use guidance | Named as an example in JCQ AI-use guidance | Not named in JCQ example list reviewed (Oct 2026) | Not named in JCQ example list reviewed (Oct 2026) |
| Pricing model | Published individual credit pricing + free welcome credits; school/MAT/ITP custom quote | Institutional licence / per-student quote (typical) | Free tier + paid plans / education pricing (public) | Paid plans / enterprise quote (public) | Subscription / pay-as-you-go (public) | Free consumer checker; paid upgrades where offered |
| LMS integration | Platform workflows + API; deep native VLE plugins not the main school pitch today | Broad LMS / VLE integrations (strength) | Integrations / API on higher plans (public) | LMS and API integrations claimed on public enterprise pages | API / WordPress-style integrations more than school VLE depth (public) | Browser / API style; not a school LMS suite |
Sources (accessed October 2026): JCQ AI use in assessments guidance, Turnitin public AI writing pages, gptzero.me, copyleaks.com, originality.ai, and Is It AI? public checker materials. Feedback Flows cells describe our shipped product. If a cell is wrong, tell us with a public source link.
Where others are stronger
Choose Feedback Flows when you want passage-level evidence, learner writing fingerprints, organisation-only collusion checks, and UK school/ITP data commitments beside marking and feedback, not a detector in isolation.
Choose Turnitin when you need deep LMS integrations and a large web/publication similarity database. That remains a genuine institutional strength we do not match today.
Choose GPTZero or Copyleaks when you specifically want a tool already named as an example in JCQ’s guidance list, or a lightweight detector workflow. Naming is not endorsement; still verify accuracy limits and contracts.
Consumer checkers such as Is It AI? can be useful for quick personal checks, but they are not a substitute for a school processor agreement, audit trail or learner baseline. A table that claims to win every row is usually marketing, not procurement evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Try evidence-led integrity checks
Run detection with quoted passages, writing fingerprints and organisation similarity. Free welcome credits for individual educators; organisation quotes for schools and ITPs.