The debate about artificial intelligence in schools tends to happen at a remove from the people who actually spend their days in classrooms. On one side, technology companies and some policymakers argue that AI tools will transform education, personalise learning and free teachers from administrative burden. On the other, critics warn of plagiarism, dependency and the erosion of fundamental skills. Both sides are largely talking about a future that hasn't arrived yet.
We spoke to 40 teachers across primary and secondary schools in England — in cities, suburbs and rural areas — about how AI is actually affecting their work. The picture that emerged was more complicated, and more interesting, than either the optimistic or the pessimistic narrative.
Most teachers said they were using AI tools themselves, primarily for lesson planning, generating differentiated materials and producing first drafts of reports. Almost all of them described this as genuinely useful. "It's saved me probably three hours a week on admin," said one secondary school English teacher in Leeds. "That's three hours I can spend on the things that actually matter." Several others made similar comments.
Student use was a more fraught topic. Most teachers said they had encountered AI-generated work submitted as the student's own. Opinions on how to respond varied widely. Some had adopted detection tools; others were sceptical of their reliability. A significant number had simply redesigned their assessments — more oral work, more in-class writing, more process-focused tasks — to reduce the incentive for AI-assisted shortcuts. "The technology is changing what we can assess," said one teacher. "That's uncomfortable, but it might not be a bad thing."