EdTech and AI safety certification for schools proposed by Department for Education
Suppliers of filtering software, AI tools and apps that process children's data would pay independent assessors for a safety badge, with schools expected to choose certified products.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Technology sold to schools in England would be independently checked against government safety standards under a certification scheme the Department for Education has put out to consultation. The consultation opened on 10 November and runs until 4 February 2027.
No product would be assessed for at least 18 months after the consultation closes, the time the department says it needs to set the scheme up, followed by a transition period for suppliers and schools. It plans to publish its response in spring 2027.
What would be covered
The proposal is one scheme with separate standards for four kinds of product:
- filtering products, which schools must already have under the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance
- EdTech that carries out high-risk processing of children's personal data
- student-facing generative AI tools
- student-facing personalised learning tools
Low-risk products would be left out, among them PDF textbooks and other static content, hardware such as computers, tablets and interactive whiteboards, and staff-only tools that do not handle children's data in high-risk ways. Monitoring software would not be included at launch either, because the department says its safety depends heavily on how staff respond to alerts.
Who pays
Suppliers would bear the cost. Under the department's preferred option it would own the scheme and set the standards, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service would accredit conformity assessment bodies to carry out the checks, and suppliers would apply to one of those bodies and pay its fee. The department has not put a figure on the fee. It says fees should be reasonable and proportionate, and it asks suppliers to say which annual cost band, from under £2,000 to over £10,000, they could absorb before passing some of it on to customers.
Certificates would not be permanent. The department proposes full recertification every three years for most categories, with annual surveillance checks, while generative AI tools may need recertifying every year because they change so quickly. A significant change to a product would also need a new certificate. Certified products would carry a badge and appear on a public register, possibly on GOV.UK.
Expected, but not compulsory
The department has no power to make schools buy certified products or to make suppliers seek certification. It proposes adding an expectation to Keeping Children Safe in Education, with a matching expectation in the early years framework, that settings get proper assurance before using higher-risk products. Certification would normally provide it, though a school could use an uncertified product if it can show the same standard is met another way.
Certification could later become a condition for getting onto the department's procurement frameworks. The consultation also asks whether legislation should eventually make certified products mandatory in some cases.
