AI in schools and colleges: what the DfE expects, and protecting assessment

Cue 1 A teacher's desk with four permitted uses: planning, resources, feedback and admin, and the teacher checking the result

EMMA 00:00 George, half my department use AI to plan lessons and the other half think it's cheating. Who's right?

GEORGE 00:07 The Department for Education is on the side of the first half, with conditions. Their guidance on generative AI in education names lesson and curriculum planning, creating resources, tailored feedback and admin as things staff may use it for.

EMMA 00:22 So it's fine.

GEORGE 00:24 It's allowed. And the same guidance says the quality and content of any final document remains the responsibility of the professional who produced it. A worksheet with a factual error in it is your worksheet, whatever drafted it.

Cue 2 A list of school information stopped at a gate: names, results, special needs, family details, and safeguarding marked never

EMMA 00:39 So I check it.

GEORGE 00:40 Facts, level, tone and bias. Before it reaches a pupil or a parent. The tool can draft. You're still the teacher.

EMMA 00:49 What can't I put in?

GEORGE 00:51 The guidance recommends personal data isn't used in generative AI tools at all. In a school that's a lot. Names, dates of birth, results, behaviour records, special educational needs, anything about a family.

Cue 3 A pupil's essay with a small ownership mark, and a permission slip from a parent

EMMA 01:04 And safeguarding?

GEORGE 01:05 Never. Not anonymised, not summarised, not to tidy up a record of concern. That one has no exceptions.

EMMA 01:12 I was going to paste a set of essays in to help with marking.

GEORGE 01:18 Then here's the rule that surprises people. A pupil's original work belongs to the pupil. The guidance says schools must not allow it to be used to train an AI model without permission. And permission means the pupil's, or a parent's or guardian's.

Cue 4 A classroom using an AI tool under supervision with an age rating and a filter

EMMA 01:35 I'd never have thought of an essay as intellectual property.

GEORGE 01:39 It is. And whether pasting it in trains the model depends on the tool's terms, which is why you use tools the school has approved.

EMMA 01:49 Can pupils use these tools themselves?

GEORGE 01:51 Only with safeguards, the guidance says. Close supervision, and tools with safety, filtering and monitoring features. And schools must comply with the age restrictions the tools set. Many general tools aren't intended for children.

Cue 5 Four questions on a card for choosing a tool, and a school's approved list

EMMA 02:05 How do I know if a tool is safe for a class?

GEORGE 02:10 The Department publishes product safety standards for generative AI in education, updated in January 2026. Filtering harmful content, monitoring and reporting, security, privacy and data protection.

EMMA 02:20 That's for suppliers, surely.

GEORGE 02:22 And for whoever chooses the tools. But it gives you the questions. Does it filter? Does it tell us when a pupil hits a filter? What happens to what pupils type? Has the school approved it for this age group?

EMMA 02:38 And the one thing to do tomorrow?

GEORGE 02:40 Ask for your school's list of approved AI tools and what each may be used for. If you're using one that isn't on it, stop and ask.

Cue 1 A coursework folder with the rule on its cover: the work must be the student's own

EMMA 02:51 George, I've got a piece of coursework in front of me that doesn't sound like the boy who wrote it. Where do I start?

GEORGE 03:01 With the rule. The Joint Council for Qualifications publishes guidance called AI Use in Assessments, most recently on 30 April 2025. The starting point is that students must submit work for assessment which is their own.

EMMA 03:15 So any use of AI is cheating.

GEORGE 03:18 No. Misuse is where a student uses an AI tool and submits work that isn't their own, or doesn't acknowledge it. Copying or paraphrasing AI generated content so the work's no longer theirs. Or using it as a source and not saying so.

Cue 2 A student's acknowledgement: the tool's name, the date, a screenshot of the questions and answers, and how it was used

EMMA 03:35 And that's malpractice.

GEORGE 03:36 It is. And the sanctions include loss of marks, disqualification, and being barred from entering for a period. Students need to be told that before they start.

EMMA 03:47 What if a student used it honestly?

GEORGE 03:50 Then they show their working. The name of the AI source and the date the content was generated. A copy of the questions they asked and what came back, in a form that can't be edited, like a screenshot. And a brief explanation of how they used it.

Cue 3 A teacher comparing a new piece with earlier work, drafts and a conversation with the student

EMMA 04:09 And I mark what?

GEORGE 04:11 What's theirs. Content the student didn't produce can't earn marks.

EMMA 04:15 I sign to say it's their own work. How am I supposed to know?

GEORGE 04:20 The guidance says you must be familiar enough with the candidate's general standard to judge whether the work is within their capabilities. And you mustn't accept work you can't authenticate.

Cue 4 A detection score of ninety per cent with a label reading a question, not an answer

EMMA 04:32 What makes that easier?

GEORGE 04:34 Seeing drafts and notes along the way. Having some of it done under supervision. And asking them to talk you through it.

EMMA 04:43 What should make me look twice?

GEORGE 04:45 A sudden change in style or vocabulary. References you can't find. Content that doesn't match what was taught. And a student who can't explain their own work.

Cue 5 Two routes from a suspicion: before the declaration to the centre's policy, after it to the awarding organisation

EMMA 04:56 I ran it through a detector. Ninety per cent AI.

GEORGE 05:00 Then you have a question, not an answer. The guidance is careful here. Detection tools vary in accuracy. They produce false positives, and research keeps finding they're more likely to flag people writing in a second language.

EMMA 05:15 So I can't use the score.

GEORGE 05:17 You can use it as part of the evidence. Never the whole of it. And never tell a student or a parent that a tool has proved anything.

EMMA 05:28 So what do I actually do?

GEORGE 05:31 Investigate. Gather his earlier work, the drafts, any acknowledgement. Talk to him and ask him to explain it. Keep a record.

EMMA 05:39 And who do I tell?

GEORGE 05:41 Your exams officer, either way. If it's before he's signed the declaration, the centre deals with it under its own policy. If it comes to light after, the head of centre must report it to the awarding organisation.