Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how knowledge is created, applied and trusted – yet much of higher education still teaches and assesses students as if that transformation has not changed what it means to develop expertise. From September 2026, the University of Surrey will take a different approach.
Rather than introducing AI as an additional skill, Surrey is undertaking a systematic redesign of every degree programme. This transformation will ensure that, as AI becomes embedded across society and the economy, Surrey students retain deep disciplinary expertise, develop critical judgement, and understand the implications of deploying AI within their field. In a course on voting behaviour, for instance, students are given a simple brief: pick an election, ask ChatGPT to explain the result, then interrogate whether AI got it right – testing its response against established theories of political behaviour, datasets from the British Election Study and published academic research. Students are enabled to identify and explain where the AI is vague or inaccurate, so that AI is not a shortcut but a prompt for deeper analysis.
Every student – from foundation year through to postgraduate – will develop applied, discipline-specific AI capability as a core part of their studies. Surrey graduates will be equipped to shape how AI is used, challenged and governed in real-world contexts – ensuring that they remain trusted, capable and competitive in a labour market reshaped by AI.
Students will graduate as AI stewards and architects of their disciplines – able to design solutions using AI, interrogate its limitations and risks and take responsibility for its impact in professional practice. Another example comes from our third-year civil engineering students who are using AI to help design a six-storey hotel – a complex brief involving structural framing, building envelope, sustainability, cost planning and health and safety. The project follows the RIBA Plan of Work stages used in industry. Groups use large language models to generate and test design concepts early in the process, then verify every AI output against hand calculations and finite element modelling.
Professor Annika Bautz, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Surrey, said:
"Artificial intelligence is changing the nature of knowledge, work and expertise itself and it is our responsibility as a university to not only respond to that change, but to shape it. That means redesigning our programmes so that students develop deep expertise alongside the ability to critically engage with AI, understanding both its power and its limitations.
"Our graduates will be defined by their ability to apply judgement, solve complex problems and take responsibility for how AI is used within their profession."
This shift is matched by a comprehensive overhaul of assessment. Traditional approaches are being redesigned to ensure that student achievement reflects genuine understanding, reasoning and capability in an AI-enabled world. The focus will move towards process, decision-making and applied problem-solving, ensuring that graduates' skills remain authentic, demonstrable and trusted.
Labour market data already shows the scale of change. AI-related job postings rose 61 per cent globally in 2024, according to GlobalData. According to PwC's 2024 Global AI Jobs Barometer, roles requiring AI skills command an average wage premium of 14 per cent across UK sectors – rising to 27 per cent in law and 58 per cent in technical data roles. The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, structural labour-market change will create 170 million new jobs, equivalent to 14 per cent of today's total employment.
Alexandra Ribeiro Magula, Early Careers Lead at McLaren Automotive Ltd, said:
"At McLaren, high performance is driven by a combination of deep technical expertise, curiosity and sound judgement. AI is already part of how we work day-to-day, supporting everything from engineering and design to business decision-making, so it's critical that graduates can do more than simply use these tools. They need to understand their limitations, challenge their outputs and apply them responsibly.
"For early-career talent, this represents a fundamental shift. The most valuable graduates will be those who can combine strong foundational knowledge with the confidence to work alongside AI in complex, real-world environments. Surrey's approach to embedding discipline-specific AI learning is a powerful step forward, helping to ensure graduates are ready to contribute from day one."
Surrey's approach recognises that AI presents both opportunity and challenge. While it can enhance learning and expand what is possible within each discipline, it also raises serious questions about authorship, originality, accountability and trust.
Surrey's model addresses this directly – AI will be used selectively and purposefully, only where it improves educational outcomes, while ensuring that core competencies, from clinical reasoning and legal judgement to engineering design and creative practice, are preserved and strengthened. In one business module, students use AI to generate a market analysis and strategic marketing plan for a real company, then act as critical managers – identifying where AI has been generic, missed the evidence or got it wrong, and rebuilding the strategy using their own disciplinary knowledge. AI produces the first draft; the student is in control of what comes next.
By embedding this approach across all subjects and levels of study, the University of Surrey is positioning its graduates not simply to succeed in an AI-enabled world, but to lead within it, shaping how AI is applied responsibly, effectively and with accountability in the public interest.