UK government seeks collaborators for AI tutoring tools for schools

The UK government is looking for education tech (EdTech) and artificial intelligence (AI) companies to help with its push to create AI tutoring tools for use in schools.

Up to eight companies will be chosen to work alongside teachers to develop these tutoring tools aimed at helping students from underrepresented backgrounds to have a more level playing field in the classroom.

Minister for digital government Ian Murray said: “The best educational support outside school has too often been the privilege of those who can afford it. AI gives us a genuine opportunity to change that – to put the kind of personalised, one-to-one tutoring into the hands of all pupils, regardless of their background, and giving teachers the best technology to complement their work.

“That is why I’m calling on edtech companies and AI labs to help us design safe and evidence-based tutoring tools that will deliver real educational improvements.”

As it stands, AI skills are not even widespread among tech workers, and access to AI and the ability to use it depends on many factors including gender and socioeconomic background.

The AI divide is not the only barrier many children face when it comes to effectively accessing education, with many children not having access to technology at home and families being unable to afford private tutoring.

This call for assistance from Edtech and AI firms to help develop tools comes as part of the government’s plans to use AI tutoring to bridge this educational divide, with the goal of reaching up to 450,000 pupils by the end of 2026.

AI labs and Edtech companies will be bidding to become part of the Pioneer Group, each of which will receive £300,000 for design and testing.

The tools must be developed with the national curriculum in mind, be useable in a classroom environment and clearly show how will be benefit students from less advantaged backgrounds, proving they are accessible, inclusive and usable. Aimed at students in Year 9 and Year 10, the tools will cover English, maths, science and modern foreign languages.

Personalisation is also an important aspect of the proposed tools – the AI tutors will need to adapt to the needs of individual pupils, highlighting what parts of their study require more focus.

Bid-winning companies will test their proposed solutions in classrooms over the summer with help from teachers, and will be scaled nationally in 2027 once tested in schools this year. Teacher involvement is a pivotal part of the initiative, particularly in ensuring the tools are fit for purpose and will enable teachers to provide extra support to students where it would not otherwise be available.

The government is developing national benchmarks for AI tools to ensure their safety, and will be giving access to its AI Content Store so tech companies can look at educational resources to support their own development of AI services.