Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

​​As part of our artificial intelligence (AI) adoption strategy, the department has established a secure infrastructure that enables teams to test and evaluate AI solutions within a controlled sandbox environment prior to the development of new AI-based products. Examples of initiatives currently in development include:

• ​A records management tool, which classifies digital records to identify those that must be retained and archived in accordance with legislative requirements and The National Archives.

• ​The Find Education and Training tool, which integrates multiple datasets including course offerings, training programmes, and geographic mapping to support 16 to 18-year-old learners in accessing appropriate educational or training provision.

​In addition, we have deployed Microsoft Copilot Chat across the organisation to support staff in their daily work. Examples of how this tool is used include document summarisation, multi-source information analysis, and to support the drafting of briefings and papers.

​Throughout these initiatives, the department has aligned our approach with the government’s AI Playbook, particularly its security principles. This includes ensuring our AI systems are secure by design, resilient to threats, and deployed in accordance with the Cyber Security Standard. Risk assessments and assurance processes are embedded into our development lifecycle to uphold robust security and governance.

​The department also acknowledges and adheres to the mandatory obligation for government departments to comply with the AI Transparency and Risk Standards, which guide our efforts to ensure transparency, accountability, and responsible risk management in all AI deployments.