The Department for Education’s updated AI guidance is welcome - but guidance alone is not enough

The Department for Education has refreshed its suite of AI resources for the 2026–27 academic year, providing updated guidance for school and college leaders alongside four core training modules covering AI literacy, generative AI interaction, safe use and practical applications in education. This is an important and positive step for the sector.

For many schools, the publication reflects a significant shift in tone from government. AI is no longer being treated as a future possibility or niche innovation; it is now recognised as a mainstream issue affecting teaching, learning, safeguarding, assessment and workforce development. That matters.

At AI in Education, we welcome the continued investment in accessible, free national training. The modules provide an important foundation for schools beginning their AI journey and reinforce a growing consensus that every educator now requires a baseline understanding of artificial intelligence and its implications for education.

However, the scale of the challenge facing schools means that guidance and standalone training modules, while valuable, are only part of the solution.

The reality is that AI adoption in schools is already widespread and accelerating rapidly. Our recent State of the Nation: AI in Education report found that 76% of teachers now use AI tools for day-to-day work, while 66.5% of young people aged 13–18 are already using generative AI. Yet almost half of schools still have no formal AI policy in place, and only 21% of state school teachers have received formal AI training.

This creates a growing gap between adoption and readiness. The challenge for schools is no longer simply understanding what AI is. It is about developing a coherent, whole-school approach to implementation that addresses:

- AI literacy

- Safeguarding and ethics

- Staff capability

- Student use

- Assessment integrity

- Infrastructure and tools

- Digital pedagogy

- Governance and policy

This is precisely why AI in Education developed the AiEd Certified Framework.

The framework was created by educators, researchers and school leaders to provide schools and colleges with a structured roadmap for AI adoption that is education-led rather than technology-led. It recognises that successful implementation requires more than enthusiasm or experimentation; it requires strategic leadership, cultural change and long-term planning.

The framework is built around five key pillars (AI Literacy, Policies & Ethics, Tools & Systems, Digital Pedagogy and Collaboration & Community) across three stakeholder groups - leaders, staff and students - and three levels of maturity: Explorer, Practitioner and Innovator.

Importantly, the updated DfE guidance aligns strongly with many of these priorities. The government’s emphasis on safe use, ethical considerations and practical application reflects the same themes schools are already identifying through the AiEd Certified process.

What schools increasingly need now is support to move from isolated experimentation to strategic implementation. That means:

- Embedding AI into school improvement planning

- Developing institution-wide policies

- Ensuring staff confidence and consistency

- Supporting disadvantaged and SEND learners

- Creating sustainable CPD pathways

- Engaging students critically and responsibly

Encouragingly, many schools are already beginning this journey. Through AiEd Certified, we are seeing schools collaborate nationally, share emerging practice and develop evidence-informed approaches grounded in real classroom experience. The DfE’s updated resources should therefore be viewed not as the end point, but as an important starting point.

AI is moving too quickly for schools to rely solely on reactive policies or occasional training sessions. The sector now needs:

- Coherent frameworks

- Sustained professional development

- Robust safeguarding approaches

- National collaboration

- Long-term strategic thinking

The schools that thrive over the next five years will not necessarily be those using the most AI tools. They will be the schools that develop the clearest vision for how AI can enhance human teaching, support inclusion, reduce workload responsibly and prepare young people for an AI-powered future. That is the ambition behind AiEd Certified - and why national guidance and sector-led frameworks must now work hand in hand.

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