UK schools ramp up AI usage

It is important for education departments to ‘squeeze every last drop of funding’ and technology can help lead the way, says Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Speaking at the World Education Forum on Monday 19 May, Phillipson said that this should include an increased focus on Educational Technology (EdTech) and tools such as Artificial Intelligence.

While this technology cannot ever replace teachers, it can be used to free up time and improve educational outcomes, she said.

“Here in this country, we’re using it to free up teachers’ time to spend more time teaching,” she said. “For children, that means more attention, higher standards, better life chances. For teachers, less paperwork, lower stress, fewer drains on their valuable time.”

She added that her department is offering support to Oak National Academy, an online hub of resources for teachers, whose AI lesson assistant is helping teachers to plan personalised lessons in minutes.

“Making the most of teacher time is one of the challenges we all face. Another is attendance – getting children back in the classroom, especially since COVID,” she said.

“Our response is rooted in our world-class data, where schools can use an interactive dashboard to drive early intervention. And it’s working. We’ve lost three million fewer days to absence this year than last.”

Phillipson said her department is now using AI to ‘go further and faster’.

“Just last week, we launched a brand new AI-powered tool, which we think is amongst the first of its kind in the world. Every mainstream school in the country can access reports right now to benchmark their attendance against 20 similar schools.”

“They highlight what schools are doing well, and where they need targeted intervention and support. That’s the kind of cutting-edge insight schools need to get attendance moving.”

Despite these advantages, Phillipson noted that AI isn’t a ‘magic wand’ which can solve all education problems.

“EdTech can light up the next century of education – and I believe it will – but there are no guarantees. So getting AI on the right track now is the most important challenge for global education in a generation. And we have far to go to deliver the scale of progress that I know is possible,” she said.