Dr Deepshikha from Queen Mary University of London’s School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) has been shortlisted for the Learning Assessment Award at the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2026 for her project, Responsible AI Assessment and Feedback Innovation.

The recognition follows a highly competitive international evaluation process. This year, the QS Reimagine Education Awards received more than 2,200 projects across 15 award categories, and over 1,000 international judges evaluated them.

This recognition reflects work done with colleagues and students at Queen Mary, and I'm grateful to Giuseppe Viola and Xinru Deng for their contributions.

The project centres on developing and implementing EduMark AI, an educator-controlled AI platform designed to support assessment and feedback while ensuring the educators retain final academic judgement.

Rather than replacing educators, EduMark AI uses artificial intelligence to generate rubric-aligned feedback, structured analysis, and indicative scoring that academic staff can then review, refine, and approve. The approach is designed to improve the efficiency, consistency and usefulness of feedback while maintaining human oversight throughout the assessment process.

The work has developed from an initial SEMS-led innovation into a wider programme of institutional testing, external engagement and responsible AI development. It has included pilots within Queen Mary and other educational settings, alongside work on data protection, governance, educator control and integration with institutional learning environments.

Dr Deepshikha said:

“I am delighted that our Responsible AI Assessment and Feedback Innovation project has been shortlisted for the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2026. This recognition is particularly meaningful because our aim has always been to explore how AI can support educators while keeping human judgement firmly at the centre of assessment.

EduMark AI is not about replacing educators. It helps them provide timely, personalised, and constructive feedback more efficiently, while retaining full responsibility for the final academic decision. Being recognised in the QS Reimagine Education Awards gives us further encouragement to continue developing and evaluating this approach.”

The QS Reimagine Education Conference and Awards will take place from 6–8 December 2026 at the InterContinental London – The O2.

With wider institutional pilots now underway, the shortlisting adds to a growing body of work at Queen Mary on responsible AI and evidence-led assessment, built on the principle that AI should extend academic judgement rather than substitute for it.