UnTXT and LSE's AI Policy - What Students Need to Know

Summary: LSE has no single university-wide answer — each department picks one of three positions (no AI, limited AI, or full AI) and must tell you which. Grammar and spell-checking tools stay permitted even under the strictest position, unless a course explicitly says otherwise. Check your Course Guide before you check anything else.

What LSE's AI Policy Actually Says

LSE requires every department to adopt one of three positions on generative AI in assessment:

Position 1: "No authorised use of generative AI in assessment."
Position 2: "Limited authorised use of generative AI in assessment."
Position 3: "Full authorised use of generative AI in assessment."

There is no single LSE-wide answer to "can I use this" — the answer is whichever position your department (and often your specific course) has adopted, communicated through the Annual Course Guide Review. "Departments and/or course convenors are expected to clearly communicate their position to their students."

One detail worth knowing: even under the strictest Position 1, grammar and spell-checking tools remain permitted unless a course explicitly prohibits them.

Where does a checker sit? LSE's published position does not address AI detection or checking tools specifically — it is written about generative tools producing content, not tools that read a finished draft. UnTXT generates nothing: it reads what you already wrote and marks passages carrying machine-writing patterns, then stops. We are not going to tell you that makes it exempt from your course's position — LSE hasn't written that distinction down, so read your Course Guide rather than assume.

What we would do. Check your Course Guide for the position your course has adopted, then say you used UnTXT regardless — one line, "I used UnTXT, an AI pattern checker, to check my own draft before submission" — costs nothing and settles the question of disclosure either way.

Source: School position on generative AI — LSE Eden Centre, checked 11 October 2026. Your Course Guide sits above it. Where LSE's pages and this one disagree, theirs is the one that counts.

Why LSE's Three-Position System Matters

Most universities publish one policy. LSE publishes a framework and lets departments choose within it — which means the same question ("can I use AI to help outline this essay?") can have three different correct answers depending on which course you're asking about.

That is the single most useful thing to know as an LSE student, and it is easy to miss if you only read the university-wide page and assume it is the whole answer.

Why LSE Students Use UnTXT

Your course sits under Position 1 or 2, and you want certainty before submitting

If your department has adopted a restrictive position, the cost of an AI-patterned passage slipping through is higher. UnTXT shows you which passages in your own draft carry machine-writing patterns, so you can revise before submission rather than find out afterwards.

You used AI legitimately under Position 3, but rewrote for your own voice

Full authorisation doesn't mean the final piece should read like the model's draft. UnTXT flags passages that still carry AI patterning after your rewrite, so you can check the revision actually landed.

You're not sure which position your course has adopted

If the Course Guide is ambiguous, running UnTXT on your own draft costs nothing while you find out, and the free 1,000-word tier is usually enough to see what the tool would flag.

What the Results Mean for Your LSE Submission

UnTXT's results are not a verdict. A flagged passage does not mean you used AI — it means that passage shares statistical characteristics with AI-generated writing, and formal academic argument produces those characteristics on its own often enough that this matters.

Gold means the passage sounds like you. Grey means it carries AI-typical patterning. There is no percentage and no letter grade, because a number invites you to treat a signal as a verdict, and it is not one.

Nothing on the page rewrites your work. The highlights are read-only — UnTXT will not suggest a replacement sentence or improve your prose while you watch. If it did, the finished piece would be a little less yours every time.

How to Use UnTXT for an LSE Assessment

1. Check your Course Guide first. Know which of the three positions your course has adopted before you decide how to use the tool.
2. Finish your draft, then paste it in and press Analyse. Two frontier models argue over your text passage by passage, with a third settling anything they disagree on.
3. Read the grey passages honestly. Is this your argument in your voice, or the phrasing you reach for when tired? Usually the second, and the fix is your own voice.
4. Leave the gold alone. Those passages already sound like you.
5. Rewrite anything you want to change, in your own words.
6. Acknowledge it in your submission if your course expects AI-tool disclosure — a checker used only on your own draft is the easy case to declare.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AI allowed at LSE?

There's no single answer. It depends which of the three positions your department/course has adopted — check your Course Guide.

Does using UnTXT count against me under Position 1?

LSE's published framework doesn't address checking tools specifically, only generative ones. UnTXT generates nothing. If your course's guidance is silent on checking tools the way the university-wide policy is, ask your course convenor rather than assume.

Do I need to declare AI use?

LSE's published position doesn't set a university-wide disclosure rule for checking tools. Declaring it anyway costs one sentence and removes the question entirely.

How much does it cost to check a standard LSE essay?

The first 1,000 words are free on sign-up, no card needed. Checking whole pieces or checking regularly means a monthly subscription from £8.40 including tax, with a monthly CVT allowance.

Can I check my dissertation in sections?

Yes — analyses are saved in your account history with word counts and dates, so you can check chapter by chapter.

Start for Free

The first 1,000 words are analysed free. No credit card required. Sign in with your Google account at untxt.uk.

This page reflects UnTXT's understanding of LSE's publicly available generative AI position as of September 2026. Policy details may change, and your department's or course's specific position governs. Always check your current Course Guide.