Artificial Intelligence Tools: Schools

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Clement-Jones

Monday 26th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

We intend to launch the consultation and certification framework very soon—this autumn. I will come back to the noble Baroness about the AI sovereign benchmarks. I understand that they are already operationalised, but I will respond specifically respond to that point.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as an adviser to DLA Piper on AI regulation and policy. A list of safe tools can tell us what to avoid. What is the Government’s vision for what AI in schools can achieve for children? Will they adopt a human flourishing test for AI in schools? That would mean asking not just whether a tool avoids harm but whether it independently improves children’s learning, curiosity, critical thinking and agency.

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I wish the noble Lord a very happy birthday. Of course, he is right. That is why we need different elements of protection and, as he rightly said, promotion. The certification would enable schools more quickly and easily to see the edtech products that met the standards. In January, we strengthened our product safety standards both to reflect emerging risks and developments in AI technologies and to ensure that AI supports genuine learning and does not undermine children’s ability to think, learn and develop independently. The certification scheme enables the development by legitimate edtech companies of the type of technology which will help to support children’s learning.

Preschool Children: Digital Technology

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Clement-Jones

Thursday 18th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I have probably gone as far as I can today in talking about the work that the Government are doing in thinking about how we can improve the guidance for parents. We will have more to say about this in the near future. As I said, we will also have the opportunity to consider this in more detail when we come back to Report on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. However, any guidance that we produce needs to be easily accessible to parents. That will mean, for example, using the Best Start in Life hubs and website. We will also require public health dissemination as well.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, I welcome what the Minister has said today, but can she explain how any DfE guidance is co-ordinated with the work of Ofcom under the Online Safety Act, the ICO’s age-appropriate design code and DHSC advice, so that parents and providers receive a clear and consistent message rather than a patchwork of partial guidance?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a very important point: in all this work, it is important that we are evidence led—as I suggested, we are developing that evidence through ongoing research—and, secondly, that we are able to provide clear information for parents and for early years settings, for example, with respect to the youngest children. There is considerable work going on between the DfE, DSIT and Ofcom to make sure both that the research is coherent and that the results of that research are appropriately communicated and go alongside some of the regulatory measures that the noble Lord mentioned.

Curriculum and Assessment Review

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Clement-Jones

Monday 10th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Languages are a vital part of the curriculum, and we want to ensure that all pupils have access to a high-quality language education. That includes supporting and empowering the workforce: for example, we will continue to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education to ensure that all language teachers have access to high-quality professional development. We want more pupils to develop strong language skills and to have their achievements recognised earlier than at GCSE. For that reason, we will explore the feasibility of developing a new flexible languages qualification which enables all pupils to have their achievements acknowledged when they are ready, rather than at fixed points.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, alongside my noble friends and the irrepressible noble Lord, Lord Baker, I very much welcome today’s Statement. It talks about “boosting digital literacy through a reformed computing curriculum to allow pupils to navigate the opportunities and challenges of AI and much more”. What is the “much more”?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

We want, first, to recognise that digital skills are an enormously important element of a young person’s development in the modern world. That is why we will widen the GCSE beyond simply computing and introduce a new level 3 qualification in data science and AI.