Your step-by-step path to AI certification
AiEd Certified is designed to fit around real school and college life. With classrooms, student work and teacher workflows already being transformed, our framework and training offer supports leaders to embed AI responsibly, purposefully and safely, ensuring staff and students can succeed in an AI-powered future.
Our framework education led, not tech-driven and is structured around five key areas across three levels of certification:
• AI Literacy
• Policies and Ethics
• Tools and Systems
• Digital Pedagogy
• Collaboration and Community
These areas guide the journey from initial exploration through to certification, without adding unnecessary workload
Explore the AiEd Certified framework in more detail
Your AiEd Certified journey is structured across three progressive levels: Explorer, Practitioner, and Innovator. From the very beginning, you’ll also receive your Pathfinder status badge, showing parents, governors and your wider community that you are taking a proactive and responsible approach to AI. Use the plus sign to expand this section and gain a full overview of the framework and expected outcomes.
Leaders
Digitally literate, recognise significance of AI, know there are benefits and challenges of implementation, arbitrary training completed.
Staff
Digitally literate, have used AI in an experimental and ad-hoc way, aware of potential issues / trustworthiness.
Students
Digitally literate in school, have heard about AI, used in unstructured way.
Leaders
Confident AI users, awareness of issues around prompting, bias, limitations. Provides training / CPD opportunities to staff.
Staff
Regular AI user with critical approach to inputs and outputs.
Students
Understand the risks and benefits of using AI, able to apply a critical lens to outputs.
Leaders
Creates bespoke training for own context, shows awareness of potential hidden interests (business, politics) in AI and actively manages this risk.
Staff
Confident approach and critical practice are second nature. Are given time to embrace developments and implement innovations.
Students
Can use AI in subject specific and creative, cross curriculum ways. Understands wider societal risks and benefits (e.g.environmental, geo-political).
Leaders
Have basic safeguarding policies, perhaps defensive bans on certain products.
Staff
Wary of issues such as security, safety and data protection, concerned about risks of bias.
Students
Awareness of inherent bias / misinformation in AI outputs and the potential impact. Takes responsibility for safety of self and peers.
Leaders
Strategic approach taken. All policies take AI into account, with data privacy, intellectual property, security and online safety a priority. Clarity for all stakeholders, including parents/guardians on data issues.
Staff
Fully briefed on policies and demonstrate safe and ethical practice.
Students
Understand ethical implications of using AI, including plagiarism, intellectual property, appropriateness of content.
Leaders
Regular policy update schedule acknowledging ever changing technologies. Take a collaborative approach with stakeholders to agree ethical approach.
Staff
Time allowed to understand policy updates. Participate in defining implementation strategies.
Students
Understanding of and openness to changing policies, including why updates are necessary. Student voice is heard.
Leaders
Digital infrastructure and Edtech available throughout school, with data integration. Using obvious and embedded tools (e.g. ChatGPT, MS Co-pilot) for internal administrative tasks.
Staff
Curious about AI, beginning to individually use freely available tools in a subject specific way.
Students
Likely using AI in an ad-hoc way outside of school, perhaps some in-lesson use.
Leaders
Identifying AI tools to address specific needs, and implementing school-wide, including user training and support.
Staff
Using AI tools provided by school, beginning to seek out subject specific tools and requesting management support in implementing.
Students
Taught to use specific AI tools effectively across a variety of subjects.
Leaders
Making strategic and commercial decisions, linking systems and paying attention to the AI lifecycle (including monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement) as part of a long-term view.
Staff
Contribute to tool selection and developing best use practices.
Students
Understand why the chosen tool is beneficial. Students have a voice in tool selection for different tasks.
Leaders
Ad-hoc use of AI in curriculum planning tasks.
Staff
Occasional use of AI to create lesson plans / teaching resources.
Students
Sporadic use of AI to complete given tasks, focus on ‘right’ answer.
Leaders
Systematic and regular use of AI to make regular tasks easier. Upfront time investment giving ongoing benefits. Applied to learning design and overall curriculum, school wide systems create ‘joined up’ thinking by learner and by subject.
Staff
Creative and ongoing use of AI to produce resources, activities and promote engagement. Some automation of tasks such as marking / feedback may be applicable on a by subject basis.
Students
Demonstrate an awareness of their learning process, supported by AI but student takes the lead in activities.
Leaders
AI Pedagogy is at the forefront of stakeholder / governance decision making and projects, including overall strategy. Particular attention is paid to necessary changes to assessment. School is transparent about aims and ongoing projects.
Staff
Systematic approach to Learning Design with AI. Uses AI to provide feedback and guidance without impacting social interaction. Links AI use to future careers / life outside school.
Students
Value automated feedback and guidance, knows when teacher interaction is beneficial. Treats AI as an assistant / collaborator, taking responsibility for learning.
Leaders
AI issues feature in meetings and activities; non-compulsory training or information is shared.
Staff
Informal AI discussions and knowledge sharing between staff referencing external sources.
Students
AI interest is demonstrated through ad-hoc discussions, in and outside of classroom likely focused on news / latest developments.
Leaders
Responsibility is taken for co-ordinating knowledge sharing. Formal training and managed groups exist and collaborate regularly.
Staff
Subject specific working groups led by teachers create and share knowledge. Effort is made to monitor impact of AI on learning and behaviour.
Students
Students and parents are engaged with learning using AI through ongoing communication about practice (newsletters, website, open evenings).
Leaders
Takes the lead in collating / sharing experiences and best practice. Contributes data and participates in wider activities with government / exam board / research / community initiatives.
Staff
Are empowered to implement AI initiatives and create evidence-based practice with new technology. Collaborate within and between subjects.
Students
Students share their knowledge and experience with parents, able to transfer school practice to the real world, including community-based activities.