Responding to the rise of AI in the education sector

Introduction

In recent years, AI’s potential to transform education has gained real momentum, offering exciting possibilities for students and teachers alike. When a growing number of our client schools and multi-academy trusts began adopting AI tools for lesson planning, personalised learning, and admin tasks, questions quickly arose around privacy and data protection compliance.

For our school data protection officer (DPO) service, this shift meant re-thinking how we support our education clients. This case study explores how the service has adapted, providing tailored guidance, risk assessments and other resources, to help schools embrace AI responsibly while keeping student and staff data secure.

The challenge for the Veritau schools DPO team

For several years now the AI revolution in schools has been re-shaping how students learn, and teachers teach. In 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) highlighted that responsible AI use could reduce teacher workload and enhance student learning.

Schools are already embracing AI to streamline admin tasks, tailor learning to individuals, and free up teachers to focus on students. Yet a 2024 survey revealed low confidence among teachers, 43% rated their AI skills as just 3 out of 10, and most wanted more guidance and training.

The trend towards widespread adoption of AI in education introduces risks that extend beyond the classroom. In recognition of this, the DfE recently launched its first-ever AI guidance for schools and colleges, along with a policy paper on Generative AI in Education.

Issues around data privacy, accuracy and transparency were of particular concern to us. As DPO to hundreds of schools, we have had to adapt the service quickly to support our clients to realise the benefits of AI while respecting regulatory constraints and implementing protective measures to safeguard pupils and staff.

Supporting schools with data protection aspects of AI

We began to strategically develop our service to safely enable AI use and encourage responsible practices. This work has included:

Upskilling our team. For example, we’ve organised training and we send our staff to AI-related conferences specific to the education sector. We also share relevant information and materials across the team and colleagues attend working groups relating to AI use and regulation
Communications and guidance. We issue advice to schools via our monthly bulletin. For example, we circulated an AI primer for school leaders and advice on the possible implications of AI. This included practical steps to implement controls to mitigate risks arising from generative AI and AI-based educational apps
Risk assessments. We recently updated our library of template data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) to include a comprehensive and robust consideration of AI used in popular educational apps
Documentation. We refreshed our model documents to ensure appropriate accountability for AI. For example, we produced a standalone model AI Policy with appendices covering acceptable use of IA by both pupils and staff. We also added a section to our model privacy notices
Records. We plan to add a section to our template information asset register (IAR) to allow schools and trusts to maintain a central record of which of their data processors (usually IT apps and suppliers) are using AI. This is in accordance with emerging best practice
Incorporating AI into our service planning. Responding to AI is considered as part of all service development and is included as a workplan objective, which informs the tasks and projects we prioritise each year

The materials above are available to all our school and multi-academy trust DPO clients on our client portal. We also regularly provide advice about use of AI via our dedicated schools helpline. For more information about the service visit our Schools data protection officer (DPO) and Data protection support for MATs pages.

Horizon scanning

There is no doubt that the growing use of artificial intelligence in the education sector offers enormous benefits to enhance teaching and learning and improve administrative efficiency. New government initiatives like the TechFirst programme are expected to equip students with essential AI skills; an AI ‘content store’ is planned to provide ready-made resources for teachers; and funding is supporting research into AI-powered EdTech products.

In this new landscape, we intend to continue working closely with our client schools and multi-academy trusts to help balance innovation with accountability, transparency and fairness. By embedding strong data protection practices and governance, the team at Veritau is confident the education sector can harness the power of AI responsibly – fostering both trust and progress in the digital classroom.