Ofsted has published the findings from its study on early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools and further education colleges. Commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE), the study aims to improve understanding of how AI can be applied in education settings, and the implications for inspection and regulation practices.
This article explores 5 takeaways from Ofsted’s findings, which reveal how early adopters have approached embedding AI use across their school, college or MAT, and the lessons learned in the process. These insights are a valuable resource for education settings who have just started, or may be considering introducing AI tools.
The Department for Education (DfE) highlights a number of surveys which suggest that, when it comes to AI in education, “adoption by school and college leaders is not keeping pace with teacher, pupil and learner use.”
For example, half of teachers in England surveyed by the DfE are using generative AI tools. Meanwhile, a 2024 Bett survey found that 69% of teachers were working in schools that had not implemented AI, and 32% of school and college leaders had no plans to make changes to account for AI.
It is within this context that the DfE commissioned the Ofsted study of early adopters, with the intention to better understand how education settings that have introduced AI tools are using the technology and managing its risks.
The research study was carried out in two stages:
Ofsted focused on three areas within the study: leadership of AI, governance of AI and use of AI.
The use of AI tools in education has wide-ranging implications across a number of areas, including IT, data management, safeguarding and curriculum. As a result, a range of viewpoints need to be considered when developing AI policies.
Early adopters tended to have AI committees formed of individuals from different departments, to account for the mix of skills and knowledge required for effective decision-making on AI.
“What you really need is someone with leadership responsibility. Someone who really has knowledge about what’s going on in AI in education. And then someone who can speak ‘human’ as well, rather than ‘techie’. And if you’ve got those 3 ingredients, which some schools have, they’re the schools that are driving forward with this.”
- MAT Digital Lead
Most of the early adopter schools and colleges had a specific “AI champion” - a person who was instrumental in getting both senior leaders and staff to embrace AI. These individuals weren’t necessarily IT specialists - some were teachers who simply had a keen interest in AI tools.
The AI champions played a key role in training staff to understand AI tools and use them with confidence. This was most successfully done by adapting training to specific audiences, as seen in one FE college: “As the champion moved around the different curriculum areas and teams, they tailored their training to individual staff, depending on the needs of skills and assessment methods for the learners.”
Supporting staff understanding of AI is vital, and many leaders in the study delayed the introduction of AI tools until they had confirmed staff buy-in across their settings.
Ofsted describes the overall approach of early adopter leaders as “curious and cautious.” Rather than approving quick roll-outs, “they tended to take initial small steps to explore the potential of AI before adopting it across their school, college or MAT.”
This gradual approach was balanced with an openmindedness that encouraged teachers to take the time and space to experiment with AI tools to see what was possible. Once fundamentals like risk assessments and staff training were in place, leaders were willing to take risks in the name of innovation.
“We have to be able to take a calculated risk. If we want to be innovators in this space, and we want to give our children the best experience, someone’s got to do it first. And whoever does it first is going to make some mistakes. So, we’ve accepted that, but [we place] pupils’ safety right at the centre.”
- School Headteacher
All leaders were committed to managing the potential risks of AI, and having strategies in place to do so before embedding AI tools in their setting. To achieve this, one school performed what it described as a “pre-mortem”:
“We [sat] around a table and acted as if we had already rolled out the project and it’s failed, and then we work backwards and talk about all the reasons why it failed. [...] That suddenly allowed us to strategise [and say] OK, let’s go back to the beginning, get back in the time machine, and fix it all.”
Other schools and colleges used strategies such as internal trials and staff working groups to ensure safety was prioritised and AI tools would be used responsibly.
Despite leading the way in AI use in education, the early adopters are still very much on a learning journey. The experiences of these schools and colleges are characterised by short-term experimentation, rather than long-term vision.
Ofsted confirms that “most of the leaders we spoke to were still learning about the technology itself and how it could align with existing practices.” With the technology evolving so quickly, there is no established formula for a successful AI strategy.
“It’s the Wild West and all we are at the minute is the sheriff. What comes in and what goes out of the town is what we’re managing to deal with at the minute. Who’s a useful citizen, who’s not a useful citizen, is what we’re making the determination of. Once that Wild West has become more of a frontier town, you can start to make informed choices.”
- College Principal
Ofsted’s study on early adopters of artificial intelligence provides a number of insights that can support other education settings in the process of introducing AI tools.
To learn more about AI in education, including the DfE guidelines around its application, schools, colleges and MATs may find the following resources useful: