New study claims just 2% of schools in England have AI strategies — despite it being 'already embedded in day-to-day teaching and learning'
- New report claims only 2% of English schools currently have formal AI strategies
- No clear policies means the sector isn’t working together to define use cases safely
- Clear strategies, but also room to experiment, are the next steps
New data from Accenture has revealed that, even though schools across England are already using artificial intelligence to support learning, only 2% actually have formal strategies.
Full deployment strategies aside, only 12% of the 200 secondary schools surveyed have any type of AI policy, leaving an overwhelming majority investing and deploying blindly.
As a result, most schools are ultimately conducting informal experiments with AI, but on a national level, a lack of consistency or shared learning across the education system could be putting the sector several marks behind enterprise and business counterparts.
Moving beyond experimentation needs a clear strategy
“Many school leaders are navigating this shift without clear guidance or the confidence to implement the technology effectively,” UK&I Head of Accenture Matt Prebble said.
Still, schools are far behind businesses, with 27% of C-suite and senior leaders noting they have a comprehensive AI strategy, per Gartner data (via The Times of India).
Besides surveying around 200 secondary schools, Accenture also conducted 30 in-depth interviews with school leaders, who generally believe that AI has significant potential to improve education once early niggles are ironed out.
At the moment, leaders are worried about plagiarism, safeguarding and bias. Teachers are also being considered in AI rollouts, even if formal strategies lack – nearly two-thirds (63%) cite a lack of staff confidence.
But early adopters are already starting to see results, with common use cases across education including lesson planning, generating quizzes and drafting mock exam questions.
Separate Government reporting also implies that AI can help provide tailored feedback and support personalized learning, as well as administrative tasks that would otherwise take away from staff’s teaching time.
The report also uncovers how top-down leadership can impact AI’s role within any given school, with sceptical leaders causing slower and patchier uptake.
“Building the leadership capability and providing practical support to adopt AI responsibly will be critical to ensuring its benefits are delivered consistently and equitably across the education system,” Prebble added.
Regionally, London leads the way with 29% of leaders using AI everyday, compared with just 12% in the rest of England.
Support for how to use and deploy AI is starting to be written
“Safety should be the top priority when deciding whether to use generative AI in your education setting,” the Department for Education stressed. Industry regulator Ofsted also supports the responsible use of AI.
But with artificial intelligence no longer an experimental novelty and pressures from Ofsted monitoring, schools are being urged to consider more detailed strategies as they deploy AI.
“The biggest risk is doing nothing and assuming that you can just continue as is,” an unnamed headteacher told Ofsted in a separate report.
Teach First CEO James Toop also emphasized the knock-on impact poor strategies could have on schoolchildren: “Ensuring every young person, regardless of background or where they live, can safely benefit from the opportunities AI presents must be a priority for the education system.
Accenture and Teach First set out five key priorities for schools looking to advance their AI strategies: headteachers and leaders should engage with AI more directly and visibly; policies should clearly define purpose and boundaries; early pilots should start where value is clearest before progressing; teaching staff should be given permission to experiment with use cases; and shared learning must complement formal training for a more rounded approach.
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