AI literacy in UK schools
England does not yet have a statutory AI literacy curriculum. A parliamentary answer in September 2026 placed the foundations of AI literacy in computing and mathematics, and said a new curriculum and assessment system will be consulted on. Judging AI claims, bias and appropriate use still has to live somewhere across the rest of the timetable.
Safeguarding expectations are clearer. The Department for Education’s Generative AI Product Safety Standards (January 2026) name six risks for pupils, from cognitive offloading to emotional dependence, and KCSIE 2026 addresses AI-generated imagery and deepfakes.
Internationally, PISA 2029 will assess 15-year-olds’ media and AI literacy for the first time. AILitKit takes a lesson you already teach, in any subject, and adds AI literacy activities mapped to these frameworks.
Frameworks your guides map to
Every AILitKit guide maps to the core international frameworks. Regional frameworks are suggested from your country, and you choose which ones your guides use.
- Regional2026
DfE GenAI Safety
DfE Generative AI Safety Standards
The Department for Education's product safety standards for generative AI in education (January 2026), focusing on six key risks: cognitive offloading, anthropomorphism, manipulation, mental health, emotional dependence, and distress detection failure. Binary tagging: a risk is either addressed or not.
- Core2024
UNESCO Student
UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students
The global reference framework for student AI literacy. Defines what students should know and be able to do with AI across four domains, at three progression levels.
- Core2026
OECD AILit
OECD/EU AI Literacy Framework
Developed by the OECD and the European Union to define AI literacy for primary and secondary education. Nineteen competences across four domains, Engage with AI, Create with AI, Manage AI and Shape AI, each with Basic, Intermediate and Advanced learner expectations, underpinned by three strands of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. Published in its final form in 2026.
- Core2029
PISA 2029
PISA 2029 Media & AI Literacy Assessment
The first international assessment of 15-year-olds' AI and media literacy, scheduled for 2029. Tests students' ability to identify bias, evaluate credibility, understand algorithms, and take ethical action in AI-mediated environments.
Check safeguarding and data protection
Read more on the blog
26 September 2026
The DfE Points to Maths and Computing for AI Literacy. Who Teaches the Rest?
A September parliamentary answer says the foundations of AI literacy belong in maths and computing. Schools still need to decide where pupils learn to judge AI claims, bias and appropriate use.
26 September 2026
Your AI Policy Cannot Be a List of Approved Tools
A new EPI and NEU paper asks how schools can guide teachers' AI use without narrowing their professional judgement. The answer begins with the work a teacher is trying to do.
26 September 2026
Young People Trust AI to Check the Facts. Only 9% Think School Is Preparing Them.
A new survey of 4,021 young people in England finds that AI use is ordinary, but confidence in education is not. The finding schools should examine is who pupils trust to tell them what is true.
31 March 2026
97% of UK Businesses Have an AI Skills Gap. Schools Are Producing the Next Workforce.
97% of UK businesses report an AI skills gap. The students sitting in Year 7 today will graduate into that workforce. What schools need to do now.
Bring AI literacy into a lesson you already teach
Describe a lesson and get four ready-to-teach activities with coaching notes, mapped to the frameworks above.
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