AI in schools: Do your AI tools actually meet product standards?

AI in Schools: Do Your AI Tools Actually Meet Product Standards?

AI has firmly moved out of the future and into the present, with widespread use across every industry and sector, including education. From lesson planning to reporting and analysis, schools are being offered more AI-powered tools than ever before.

At Juniper, we believe AI has the potential to be genuinely helpful in schools when it’s used responsibly, transparently and with the right safeguards in place. The real question isn’t whether AI belongs in education; it’s already here, but whether the tools being introduced genuinely meet the standards schools should expect. That means understanding both what AI can do well and where it should be guided by professional judgement, as emphasised in the GOV.UK toolkit: The safe and effective use of AI in schools.

AI is allowed, but judgment still matters

There’s sometimes uncertainty around whether AI should be used in schools at all. The short answer is yes, but only in the right way.

There are hundreds of tools out there to support with planning, creating resources, reviewing work and managing administrative workloads. When used well, it can save time and reduce repetition, allowing staff to focus on what matters most.

However, its effectiveness depends on how it’s used. Anything produced by AI must be checked, understood and applied using professional judgement, with responsibility always sitting with the school, not with the technology itself. This reflects guidance that teachers retain final responsibility for accuracy, appropriateness and safeguarding when using AI tools.

We believe AI works best when it supports tasks related to teaching, rather than attempting to replicate teaching itself. It can offer helpful prompts and surface insights, but cannot replace the context, relationships or expertise that education professionals bring every day.

Used well, AI can:

• Reduce admin-heavy workloads
• Help surface patterns or trends in data
• Speed up lesson preparation and SLT reporting
• Free up time for face-to-face teaching and professional conversations

What it can’t do is replace professional judgement or the human understanding that sits at the heart of education. Teachers are irreplaceable, and any AI tool that suggests otherwise should raise questions.

AI in our products: practical and safe use

AI is transformational when used appropriately, and it is therefore part of Juniper’s product roadmap and strategy, but in very specific and appropriate places, ensuring we only provide AI tools that are safe, tested and secure.

While it can play a supporting role that helps with workloads, removes repetitive tasks and provides useful insights, we don’t believe it can ever replace essential professional oversight. That judgement, applied in a holistic way to understand the needs of the whole child and their context, will always be fundamental. 

Implementation of AI in our tools and services, which help schools drive school improvement, is always carefully considered to ensure that where it is used, it is helpful, safe and secure. For example, customers can currently use AI in specific, practical areas such as content writing support on Juniper Websites, Google translation within our Parent App, which forms part of our CommsHub, and selected AI-driven tools within our PeopleFirst HRIS offering

Passing the product standard test

As AI becomes more common in education software, it should be held to the same rigorous standards that schools rely on.

For us, that means asking:

• Is it clear what the AI is doing — and what it isn’t?
• Can staff understand, challenge and override the output?
• Does it support professional decision-making rather than shortcut it?
• Are data protection, safeguarding and age-appropriate use built in?
• Does it genuinely save time, rather than introduce new risk, workload and another tool for teachers to use?
• Does it genuinely help your school improve?

If those questions can’t be answered clearly, the tool isn’t ready for school use.

Insight still needs interpretation

One of the most useful roles AI can play is helping schools make sense of complex information, highlighting trends, identifying pupils who may need support, and bringing data together more efficiently.

But insight alone is not enough.

AI can flag something worth looking at, but it can’t understand the wider context around a pupil, cohort or community. That interpretation, and any resulting action, must always sit with education professionals.

Used carefully, AI can support earlier pedagogical conversations and more informed interventions.

Used poorly, it risks misunderstanding learners' unique context.

Leadership, policy and safe use

Schools and trusts also need to consider how AI fits into their wider digital and data strategies. This includes setting clear expectations for staff and learner use, putting appropriate safeguards in place for student access, ensuring compliance with data protection and safeguarding requirements, and investing in ongoing training so teachers and leaders feel confident using AI responsibly.

Different settings will make different choices. What matters is that AI is introduced thoughtfully, with clarity around purpose and responsibility.

Asking the right questions

If you’re being offered AI-powered tools, it’s worth asking:

• How does this fit with how we already work?
• Where does human oversight sit?
• What safeguards are in place?
• Will this genuinely reduce workload, or just move it elsewhere?

AI has the potential to play a positive role in education, but only when it’s implemented with care, clarity and respect for the expertise that already exists in schools.

At Juniper, as a school improvement partner, that principle shapes our software and services today and will continue to do so in the future.