Ask teachers in England whether pupils should learn about AI and the answer is clear. In Teacher Tapp results published on 29 September, 82% of secondary teachers and 68% of primary teachers said AI literacy should be covered across most or some subjects. Only 3% of secondary and 5% of primary teachers said it should not be taught at all.
Ask what is happening in their own school and the picture changes. Just 20% of secondary and 13% of primary teachers said AI literacy is currently covered in most or some subjects. In 41% of secondary responses and 56% of primary responses, it is not addressed in teaching at all.
Teacher Tapp's own summary of how well practice matches intention: “Not very well at all.”
The gap is not about willingness
These numbers do not describe a profession resisting change. Most teachers want this taught, and most want it spread across subjects rather than left to one lesson. What they are describing is a school-level decision that has not been made yet.
One likely reason is that AI literacy feels important but belongs to no one. Computing may cover how the technology works. PSHE may cover online safety. English and history may deal with authorship and sources. Without someone joining those pieces, each department assumes another is doing it.
A national call for the same thing
A week later, on 7 October, a coalition of 70 organisations and experts wrote to the Prime Minister, the Education Secretary and the Culture Secretary asking for children's media literacy to become a national priority. The letter, co-ordinated by Internet Matters and Molly Rose Foundation, was signed by groups including the NSPCC, The Children's Society and the NASUWT.
One of its four requests is a national framework setting out how all subjects work together to build skills including “critical thinking about information, understanding algorithms and AI, and recognising manipulation”. It also asks for investment in teacher training and support for families.
That is advocacy, not policy, and the government had not responded publicly by the time of writing. But it lines up with what teachers told Teacher Tapp: this belongs across the curriculum, and schools need support to do it.
Close the gap from inside your school
A national framework may come. In the meantime, the gap Teacher Tapp found is one each school can measure and start to close.
Ask your own staff the same question. Do they think AI literacy should be taught, and is it being taught in their subject now? The answers will show where the willingness already is.
Start where AI already appears. Pupils meet AI-generated content in research tasks, homework and the media they analyse. Find two or three existing lessons in different departments where checking an AI claim, spotting a generated image or deciding what counts as your own work fits naturally.
Give it an owner. Someone needs to see the whole map, even if the teaching happens in many places. Without that, AI literacy stays in the 41% and 56%.
Teachers have already said what they want. The next step is a plan that shows them where it fits.
Sources: Teacher Tapp, Mobile phone bans, AI literacy plus PPA at home, 29 September 2026; Internet Matters, Media literacy must become a national priority, 7 October 2026. Teacher Tapp results come from its daily app panel of teachers in England; the article does not give sample sizes for these questions.