AI and EdTech: MPs launch new inquiry into technology's role in education
26 February 2026
MPs have opened a new cross-party inquiry into how artificial intelligence and EdTech are being used across the education system. The focus: real benefits for learning and workload, balanced against clear risks and the support teachers and leaders need.
What the inquiry covers
- All phases: early years, schools, colleges and universities.
- Impact on core skills: critical thinking, problem solving and oracy.
- Inequality risks: whether AI use could widen gaps between students.
- Children's digital rights: privacy, participation and safeguarding concerns linked to fast-moving tools and addictive design features.
- Teacher use of AI: 60% using AI for work, with over a fifth using it daily; support, training and effective practice.
- Assessment: how AI and EdTech may change traditional assessment methods.
- Related work: screentime and online safety, aligned with the Government's consultation on banning social media for under-16s.
Why this matters for educators
AI is already in your classrooms and staffrooms-through planning aids, feedback tools, admin support and student use outside lessons. The opportunity is clear: save time, target learning, and improve feedback loops.
The risk is just as clear: bias, over-reliance, data privacy issues and assessment integrity. This inquiry signals that policy, training and evidence-based practice will move to the forefront.
Practical steps to act now
- Set a simple AI use policy: what's encouraged, what's restricted and why. Keep it short, update each term.
- Protect assessment integrity: clarify when AI help is permitted, require process evidence (drafts, thinking steps), and use oral checks where needed.
- Teach AI literacy: prompt quality, fact-checking, citing sources, and spotting hallucinations. Tie this to critical thinking and oracy.
- Safeguard students: audit tools for data handling, age-appropriateness and addictive design. Involve DSLs and governors/trustees.
- Close equity gaps: provide supervised access to safe AI tools in school, and offer offline alternatives so no one is left out.
- Prioritise staff training: start with high-impact, low-risk uses-lesson planning, exemplars, differentiation, admin summaries.
- Pilot before you buy: run time-bound trials with clear success metrics (minutes saved, attainment gains, teacher feedback).
- Keep humans in the loop: use AI to draft, you decide and refine. Make professional judgement visible.
Key stats at a glance
- 60% of teachers report using AI for work.
- Over one in five use it daily.
Chair's comment
Helen Hayes MP, Chair of the Education Committee: "AI and EdTech are already reshaping learning from early years to higher education. They could improve outcomes and reduce workload, but introducing fast-moving technology without clear values, evidence and safeguards risks harm and greater inequality. Our inquiry will separate hype from reality and set out how benefits can be realised safely. We invite anyone with relevant experience to submit evidence."
Where to find guidance and support
- DfE guidance: Generative AI in education (GOV.UK)
- ICO Children's Code: privacy standards for services used by children
- AI Learning Path for Teachers for practical classroom use, planning support and safe practice.
What to prepare if you plan to submit evidence
- Clear examples of impact: time saved, workload changes, pupil outcomes, attendance or engagement shifts.
- Safeguarding and data protection measures: DPIAs, parental communication, age-appropriate settings.
- Equity actions: access provision, staff CPD, SEN adaptations, EAL considerations.
- Assessment integrity measures: process evidence, oral moderation, AI-use statements.
- Evaluation data: before/after metrics, teacher and student feedback, cost-benefit notes.
Expect stronger guidance, more scrutiny of procurement, and a push for practical training. Use this moment to tidy your policy, refine your workflow and focus on learning gains that you can prove.
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