My Essay Was Flagged as AI: How to Address False Positives After the October 2025 Turnitin Update

Across the United Kingdom, an unexpected wave of false positive AI detection results has caused stress for students who submitted completely authentic university work. After the Turnitin algorithm adjustment rolled out in October 2025, the number of students whose essays were mistakenly flagged as AI increased significantly.

Universities have shared internal notices, student groups have raised concerns, and staff in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast have confirmed that some authentic submissions are being questioned not because they are artificial, but because the new sensitivity level reads certain patterns as “machine shaped”.

If you are experiencing this right now, you are not alone. The following guide explains why false positives occur, how to defend your human authorship, and what practical steps you can take before submitting or appealing. You will also find references to professional academic editing support and a direct WhatsApp link for fast guidance.

Why are genuine essays being flagged as AI after the 2025 update?

Turnitin’s October 2025 patch was introduced to detect rewriting from paraphrasing engines and AI-humanising programs. The algorithm learned certain linguistic patterns found in reshaped content. Unfortunately, these patterns occasionally also appear in strong academic writing produced by students.

Common natural writing habits that sometimes trigger false positives include:

• Even sentence length
• Very polished academic tone
• Heavy use of rewriting tools such as Grammarly suggestions
• Perfect logical transitions between ideas
• Strong structural consistency
• Concise analytical style

Students who read widely, analyse information deeply and write with consistent clarity are more likely to produce the type of language that appears “too uniform”. The system, in some cases, interprets these signals as artificial structure rather than genuine skill.

How to prove that your essay is genuinely written by you

Universities routinely accept certain forms of evidence that demonstrate human authorship. These are not complicated, and in many cases they resolve the matter quickly.

What a safe AI percentage looks like

Across most UK universities, an AI percentage between 0 and 20 is usually seen as small statistical noise, depending on the structure and context. Scores above that threshold often trigger manual investigation. This is not automatic misconduct, but an indicator that a deeper review may be needed.

In 2025, most departments began instructing students to prepare author evidence when discussing scores above 25. The most important point is that human writing often contains emotional cues, connection to research, and interpretive insight that clearly differ from generated content.

How to avoid being misread in the future

These practical techniques help preserve the natural characteristics of human authorship:

• Mix sentence length: Use short sentences and longer analytic lines. This variation often reflects natural thought flow.
• Use interpretive voice: Comment on why sources matter to your argument, not just what they say.
• Avoid heavy paraphrasing tools: Excess rephrasing creates uniform tone patterns that resemble machine reshaping.
• Add local context: Refer to UK-specific policies, events, cultural examples, case studies, regional statistics, current local news items, or sector analyses.
• Include natural imperfections: Small shifts in rhythm, emphasis, rhetorical questioning, and persuasive patterning are not flaws, they are human markers.

Why professional editorial support is becoming popular after October 2025

Many students feel anxious when they cannot understand why their writing may look “machine-patterned”. Others simply want reassurance before submission. This has led to demand for human academic editors who can check tone, structure, voice and reasoning depth.

The services below operate from the URLs you provided, offering Google-safe, human-focused review:

Support for London university students specifically

Reports of false positives have heavily emerged in London based institutions, especially UCL, King’s College London, LSBU, Middlesex, Greenwich, Brunel, Westminster, Queen Mary and City. Strict academic integrity protocols in London universities mean that some students require stronger authorship evidence faster.

If you are preparing work at a London campus, it may help to receive a light editorial revision to strengthen natural language patterning before submission.

Frequently asked questions

Final thoughts

Turnitin’s October 2025 enhancement was created to improve academic integrity by identifying artificially reshaped content. Unfortunately, it has also led to cases where genuine university submissions have been misread as machine generated.

If your work has been flagged, remain calm and gather traceability. Version history, handwritten notes, planning sketches, early drafts and research logs usually resolve suspicion.

If you prefer direct discussion regarding your specific situation, you can message an academic specialist through WhatsApp using the link below: