Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 131
Produce risk assessment on edtech and AI in schools; Ofcom to assess safety
Recommendation
The next Government should produce a risk assessment on the use of edtech and AI in schools as soon as possible, and particularly on the extent to which it poses a risk to the security of children’s data. The safety and reliability of edtech should also be assessed by Ofcom both it is introduced to schools, and periodically after it is brought into schools.
Government Response Summary
The government states it is ensuring AI products are safe for schools by publishing AI safety expectations and developing teacher guidance, due before academic year 2025-26. DfE is also funding Ofsted to gather insights on AI use and risk mitigation, and providing guidance for schools on protecting data and cybersecurity, but does not commit to a comprehensive government risk assessment or Ofcom's product-level assessment.
Paragraph Reference:
131
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The government is making sure that tech we use in our schools is safe, as set out by the Education Secretary in her Bett Show 2025 speech, government is working to ensure that generative AI products are safe for use in schools and colleges, and that teachers and leaders are supported to confidently use the technology to break down barriers to opportunity. DfE has published a big-tech backed set of AI safety expectations, outlining capabilities and features GenAI systems and tools should aim towards to be considered safe for users in education. To support a clear ask from teachers and leaders, we are developing online resources and guidance materials to help teachers and leaders use AI safely in their setting. The contractor, Chiltern Learning Trust, is now in place and we expect to publish the resources in before the new academic year 2025 to 2026. DfE is also funding Ofsted to gather insights from early adopter schools and FE colleges on use of AI and the role that school and college leaders are playing. This will indicate how AI is being used to ensure that future inspections promote safe AI use in education. Ofsted already considers a school’s use of AI in terms of its effect on the criteria set out in the inspection framework. Ofsted does not directly inspect the quality of AI tools and has no plans to do so in the future. But inspectors will continue to consider how AI tools affect provision and outcomes for pupils—such as safeguarding and the quality of education—as part of the wider process of inspection. DfE has published advice for schools and colleges regarding mitigating the risks of using Generative AI. The guidance sets out that schools and colleges should: • protect personal and special category data in accordance with data protection legislation • not allow or cause intellectual property, including pupils’ work, to be used to train generative AI models, without appropriate consent or exemption to copyright • review and strengthen their cyber security by referring to the cyber standards – generative AI could increase the sophistication and credibility of attacks • ensure that children and young people are not accessing or creating harmful or inappropriate content online, including through generative AI – ‘Keeping children safe in education’ provides schools and colleges with information on ○ what they need to do to protect pupils and students online ○ how they can limit children’s exposure to risks from the school’s or college’s IT system ○ refer to the filtering and monitoring standard to make sure they have the appropriate systems in place