Generative AI in UK Schools: What the DfE Guidance Says

Scope of this guide

This summarizes the Department for Education's guidance on generative AI in education, quotes it directly, and turns it into questions for suppliers. Every rule quoted below was checked against the regulator's own page on 2 October 2026; check the current version before you rely on it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Safety comes first

The DfE's position is direct: "Safety should be the top priority when deciding whether to use generative AI in your education setting." Any use by staff, students and pupils "should be carefully considered and assessed, evaluating the benefits and risks." Pupils should use these tools only "with appropriate safeguards in place, such as close supervision and the use of tools with safety and filtering and monitoring features."

Personal data

On personal information, the DfE says: "Personal data must be protected in accordance with data protection legislation. It is recommended that personal data is not used in generative AI tools." Settings should also be transparent about automated decision-making and make sure pupils and parents or guardians understand that their personal data is being processed using AI tools.

What to consider before adopting a tool

• Whether the tool's age restrictions match the pupils who will use it.
• Whether your safeguarding policies cover online safety risks from AI.
• The risk of unauthorized use by students, for example creating fake school communications.
• The wider guidance on keeping children safe in education.

The DfE also notes that technology, including generative AI, "should not replace the valuable relationship between teachers and pupils."

Questions to ask an AI supplier

• Does the product need pupil personal data at all, and can it work without it?
• What filtering and monitoring does it have, and who is responsible for it?
• What is the minimum age, and how is it enforced?
• Where is data stored and processed, and who are the sub-processors?
• What can we tell pupils and parents about how the tool works and what it does with data?
• Can staff switch it off, and what happens to stored data when we do?

Where Zunkiree Labs fits

Zunkiree Labs builds custom AI systems (including RAG pipelines, LLM integration and intelligent automation), data systems, custom software, and web and mobile applications, and is based in Nepal. The full list is on the services page. Orca is Zunkiree Labs' intelligence and orchestration layer: it sits above the CRM, email and marketing tools an organization already uses and coordinates agent workflows across them, rather than replacing those tools. Orca is being provided to support use cases in education businesses, where it coordinates agent workflows across the tools those teams already use. None of this changes the DfE's starting point: check safety and data protection first, and ask any supplier, including us, to answer the questions above in writing.

Sources

• DfE: Generative AI in education (updated 12 August 2025)