Teachers offered AI tools to reduce workload

The UK government has announced a new project that will enhance artificial intelligence's (AI) ability to assist teachers in marking work and planning lessons.

The project, backed by £4 million of investment, will pool government documents including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments which will then be used by AI companies to train their tools so they generate accurate lesson plans and workbooks, that can be reliably used in schools. 

The content store is targeted at technology companies specialising in education to build tools which will help teachers mark work, create teaching materials for use in the classroom and assist with routine school admin. 

To encourage AI companies to make use of the datastore, a share of an additional £1 million will be awarded to those who bring forward the best ideas to put the data into practice to reduce teacher workload. Each winner will build an AI tool to help teachers specifically with feedback and marking by March 2025, with applications opening on 9th September. 

Science secretary Peter Kyle said: "We know teachers work tirelessly to go above and beyond for their students. 

"By making AI work for them, this project aims to ease admin burdens and help them deliver creative and inspiring lessons every day, while reducing time pressures they face."

The project includes a partnership with the Open University which is sharing learning resources to be drawn on as part of the project.

Almost half of teachers are already using AI to help with their work, according to a survey from TeacherTapp, but current AI tools are not specifically trained on the documents setting out how teaching should work in England.

Chris Goodall, a teacher and head of digital education in the Bourne Education Trust, said: "AI has been a hugely powerful tool for me and my colleagues at the Bourne Education Trust. It allows us to create engaging, personalised learning experiences for our students while also significantly reducing the time taken to create them. Personally, I’ve used AI to quickly generate scaffolded activities, adapt materials for students with special educational needs, and create more engaging lessons that are accessible to all. The time saved allows school staff to focus on what matters most, interacting with students and providing individualised feedback and support. 

He said the content store will take this to "the next level" by offering easy access to "high quality evidence based and legally compliant education materials."