Gulf in AI uptake between private and state schools

New research by The Sutton Trust has revealed an increasing digital divide in the UK’s education system, with private schools outpacing state schools in harnessing AI. Among state schools, those with the highest proportions of disadvantage pupils are falling behind those with more affluent intakes in adopting AI.

The report, Artificial Advantage?, found that teachers in private schools are more than twice as likely to have received formal training in AI (45 per cent), compared to state schools teachers (21 per cent). They are also significantly more likely to have informal training than state school trainers, with 77 per cent against 45 per cent. Teachers in schools rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted were more than three times more likely to have had formal training (35 per cent) than in one with a ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ rating (11 per cent).

Even with the state system, inequalities are emerging. Schools with more affluent intakes were more likely to have had formal (26 per cent) and informal (54) per cent) training than those with the least affluent intakes (18 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively). One in four (24 per cent) of state school teachers said they were not confident at all using AI tools, in contrast to 15 per cent of private school teachers.

AI holds serious potential to reduce the administrative load and unlock time savings for teachers, yet private school teachers are more able to harvest these benefits. AI tools were generally used by all teachers for lesson planning and preparation (44 per cent), yet private school teachers were more likely than their state school counterparts to use AI for writing pupil reports (29 per cent vs 11 per cent), creating assessments (24 per cent vs 14 per cent), communicating with parents (19 per cent vs eleven per cent), marking (12 per cent vs seven per cent), and continuing professional development (CPD) (14 per cent vs eight per cent).

Private schools are also more likely to have an AI strategy than state schools (27 per cent vs nine per cent), and within the state sector schools rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted were three times more likely than schools rated ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ (13 per cent vs four per cent).

Consequently, The Sutton Trust is calling on the government to tackle the digital divide among pupils to improve their access to the benefits of AI, as well as giving additional training and guidance on the use of AI of school leaders.

Nick Harrison, CEO of The Sutton Trust, said: “It’s startling how rapidly an AI digital divide is opening up in schools. This is a crucial time in integrating AI tools into teaching, yet private schools, and some of the most affluent state schools, are already forging ahead in a sort of digital Wild West. If this isn’t quickly tackled head on, schools serving the most disadvantaged pupils risk falling further behind.

“These tools can provide a range of benefits to overworked teachers, but their use is spread unevenly, with inequalities in training and appropriate guidance and monitoring. If action isn’t taken to close these widening gaps, access to AI risks becoming the next major barrier to opportunity for disadvantaged young people. The type of school you go to shouldn’t determine your chances of benefiting form AI in education.”