Education · 20 October 2026
AI in Education
For teachers, school leaders and MATs
At askKira, we provide GDPR-compliant, secure AI built specifically for UK schools. Developed with over 100 education experts and aligned with DfE, Ofsted and EEF guidance, askKira helps teachers, school leaders and MATs work smarter, reduce workload and make data-driven decisions with confidence.
This week's roundup brings you the latest AI developments that matter for UK education.
AI Feedback and the Teacher-Pupil Relationship
Pupils find AI feedback useful but still prefer their teacher
New action research from Thames Christian School, published in *Human Intelligence First: the Tool is the Smallest Part*, finds that students valued AI feedback for its speed and specificity on technical targets, yet the majority still preferred feedback from a teacher. The key reason: teachers earn trust by knowing a pupil's history, context and working style, which AI cannot replicate.
Why it matters: For UK schools evaluating AI marking tools, this is a timely reminder that time-saving benefits must be weighed against the risk of hollowing out the relational dimension of feedback, which remains central to pupil progress in English classrooms across the country.
Read the source on LNKD →AI, Assessment and Academic Integrity
AI use boosts results but leaves learning gaps when removed
A Norwegian university study found that when a compulsory course moved from a take-home exam to an invigilated setting, fail rates jumped from 3-6% to 18.4%, with Bs and Cs thinning out most significantly. Meanwhile, a separate study found an AI revision tool added just 2.56 marks on a 35-mark GCSE science test, with no additional benefit for Pupil Premium students.
Why it matters: UK school leaders and heads of department should treat these findings as a practical prompt to audit which assessments are genuinely measuring student capability rather than AI-assisted output, particularly ahead of any JCQ guidance updates on controlled assessment conditions.
Read the source on LNKD →AI in the Classroom: Pedagogy and Policy
Schools need clear AI policies, teacher training and student literacy
A growing body of commentary this week highlights that AI tutoring research, including a Harvard physics study showing higher learning gains and faster task completion, is encouraging, but the real risk is students outsourcing thinking rather than deepening it. The emerging consensus is that the strongest model is not Teacher or AI but Teacher plus AI plus student judgement working in combination.
Why it matters: UK schools still debating whether AI use constitutes cheating are behind the curve; the priority now is building structured AI literacy programmes, updating acceptable use policies and committing to meaningful CPD so staff can guide students to use AI as a thinking tool rather than a thinking replacement.
Read the source on LNKD →AI arrived in your school quietly, not through a grand plan
This week's reflection from a primary education practitioner highlights a pattern UK school leaders will recognise: AI entered through the back door, with individual teachers drafting newsletters on personal laptops and TAs using free online tools to differentiate resources, well before any policy existed.
Why it matters: For UK headteachers and DSLs, this is a governance prompt: if staff are already using AI tools informally, a reactive policy written after the fact carries real safeguarding and GDPR risk, and a proactive audit of actual current usage is now a matter of urgency.
Read the source on LinkedIn →AI literacy deserves its own curriculum space, not a bolt-on
A secondary science teacher with 20 years of experience argues this week that because AI is reshaping how people work, learn and evaluate information, it deserves dedicated curriculum time at secondary level rather than being squeezed into already-packed subject lessons. The argument is that subject teachers should not be bearing the burden of regulating AI use in isolation.
Why it matters: With UK secondary schools already under significant curriculum pressure, this is a timely challenge for MAT curriculum leads and subject leaders to consider whether AI literacy should be a standalone element of the timetable or embedded consistently across all subjects with dedicated teaching time and resources.
Read the source on LinkedIn →