How many AI tools are in use across your school? It is a harder question than it sounds. Some are approved and bought centrally. Others arrive through a department, a free trial, a browser extension or a feature switched on inside software the school already pays for.
Two developments in October make that uncertainty harder to sustain.
A certification standard is on the way
In a House of Lords debate on AI, screen use and social media on 22 October, the government minister responding, Baroness Lloyd of Effra, said: “this autumn we are consulting on introducing new safety certification of technology used in early-years settings, schools and colleges.” The aim, she said, is to help educators and parents have confidence that tools meet clear, trusted safety standards.
She also said the DfE is developing a new digital and data skills pathway for the education workforce, “setting expectations for skills needed to use tech, data and AI safely”, building on the AI support materials for teachers updated in May 2026.
The same reply set out wider measures that will reach pupils outside school: Britain will ban chatbots that offer sexualised content to under-18s, introduce mandatory breaks in AI chatbot use for under-18s, and bring the first regulations for an under-16 social media ban before Parliament by the end of this year, with restrictions from spring 2027.
These are statements of intent. The certification consultation's details are not yet published, and no one yet knows what standard tools will have to meet. But the direction is clear: schools will be expected to know what technology they use and whether it is safe.
The data protection checklist is already here
On 14 October, the DfE added a new compliance checklist to its data protection guidance for schools, reflecting the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Two parts matter directly for AI.
Automated decision-making. The Act allows wider use of automated decision-making where safeguards are in place. Individuals must be told when automated decisions are made about them, and must be able to challenge them and request a human review. The checklist asks schools to identify any systems that use automated decision-making, ensure a person can review decisions and change the outcome, and explain it in privacy notices.
Children's data. Schools should carry out Data Protection Impact Assessments where required, “particularly for higher-risk processing involving: AI tools, educational technology (EdTech), monitoring technologies”. Internal guidance should reflect that children's privacy is considered by default when new systems are introduced.
This is a checklist and a reminder, not new law. But it turns general principles into tasks a school can assign.
Five steps to take this half term
List every AI tool in use. Include tools staff use for planning and admin, tools pupils use directly, and AI features inside existing platforms. Ask departments, not just IT.
Mark which ones make or shape decisions about pupils. Grading, behaviour flags, reading levels, set placements, safeguarding alerts. Those need a named person who reviews the outcome and can change it.
Check which have a DPIA. Prioritise tools that process pupil data and anything pupils use directly. If a tool has no DPIA and no clear data agreement, pause and ask why.
Update your privacy notice. If any system makes automated decisions, families need to know in plain, age-appropriate language, along with how to challenge a decision.
Keep the list. When the certification consultation opens, a school with an up-to-date inventory can respond with evidence, and will be ready for whatever standard follows.
Governance is not the opposite of AI literacy. A school that can explain which tools it uses, why, and who checks them is modelling exactly the judgement it wants pupils to learn.
Sources: Hansard, House of Lords debate on AI, screen usage and social media: effect on children, 22 October 2026; DfE, Data (Use and Access) Act 2025: compliance checklist for schools, added 14 October 2026. Ministerial statements describe planned measures; the certification consultation's details had not been published in the debate. Education measures apply to England.