Bringing Gen AI into the Classroom – The DfE Publishes Support Materials for Schools and Colleges

Balancing AI opportunities with safety

In support of schools and colleges, on 10 June 2025 the UK government published a collection of materials on the use of generative AI (Gen AI) in education. It is the stated intention that the materials within the collection ‘…balance the need for staff and student safety with the opportunities AI creates’.

The collection contains support materials aimed at all school and college staff, along with other materials specifically for leaders. In this blog we provide an overview of the materials featured within the collection. We also refer to the earlier related policy paper, initially published in March 2023 but last updated this year on 10 June.

Read the collection: Using AI in education settings: support materials.

Read the policy paper: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education.

Tapping into AI in the classroom

The collection of support materials, and the earlier policy paper, are from the Department for Education (DfE). The policy paper begins with the statement that the DfE is ‘committed to supporting the AI Opportunities Plan’.

The introductory section of the DfE’s policy paper also includes the following words:

‘AI has the power to transform education by helping teachers focus on what they do best: teaching. This marks a shift in how we use technology to enhance lives and tap into the vast potential of AI in our classrooms’.

For further background, read the AI Opportunities Action Plan (an independent report published 13 January 2025).

How could AI help teachers?

The DfE’s collection page is made up of, amongst other things, slidedecks, videos, and activities. It mentions that these free support materials were developed by the Chiltern Learning Trust and the Chartered College of Teaching.

The materials for all staff are split into four modules entitled:

• Understanding AI in education: module 1
• Interacting with generative AI in education: module 2
• Safe use of generative AI in education: module 3
• Use cases of generative AI in education: module 4

For leaders, the guidance is headed:

• Using AI in education: support for school and college leaders

Awareness raising about the support materials

The collection of resources was also featured on the DfE’s blog space, ‘The Education Hub’, on 10 June. The hub is described as a ‘site for parents, pupils, education professionals and the media that captures all you need to know about the education system’.

The blog feature addresses a series of questions including:

• Are teachers allowed to use AI?
• How could AI help teachers?
• Will teachers be replaced by AI?
• Are students allowed to use AI?

For the answers provided, read the DfE’s blog – AI in schools and colleges: what you need to know.

Pupil facing Gen AI

Both the DfE’s blog and the collection page of support materials refer the reader to the DfE’s policy paper on Gen AI in education. From the policy paper, we highlight what is covered under the heading ‘Opportunities and challenges for the education sector’ and, in particular, the following extract:

‘If schools and colleges choose to use pupil-facing generative AI, they must take great care to ensure they are abiding by their legal responsibilities, including those related to:

• data protection;
• keeping children safe in education; and
• intellectual property law’

In addition, the DfE policy paper urges readers also to use the DfE’s guidance on product safety expectations in relation to Gen AI. Read the Generative AI: product safety expectations.

What schools and colleges need to do now

When reviewing the package of training and guidance materials for teachers and leaders we have discussed within this blog, there are some considerations that schools and colleges may wish to have front of mind.

• Developing an AI governance framework to establish safe and responsible use of AI.
• Setting your own rules on the use of AI in the form of an AI policy.
• Your AI policy follows legal requirements around child safety, data and privacy, and intellectual property.
• If your students are permitted to use AI, do you have the right safeguards in place? The DfE’s blog mentions these including supervision, use of filters, and age restriction adherence. On the last, the DfE notes ‘…many AI tools are 18+’.
• Do other policies, such as your homework policy, need updating?
• The broader thinking around how AI may affect learning.

A whistlestop tour

Having swiftly navigated our way through what is included in the collection of support materials for schools and colleges, published by the DfE on 10 June, and placed this collection within the context of the DfE’s policy paper on Gen AI in education, we close with words from that policy document (words which were also presented there in bold type):

‘Safety should be the top priority when deciding whether to use generative AI in your education setting’

Our experienced teams of education solicitors and technology solicitors can support you if you would like to learn more about the legal landscape in relation to the use of generative AI.