WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY....
HOW INSTITUTIONS CAN PREPARE FOR THE NEW AI STRATEGY AND EDTECH POLICY
Comment by ZEMINA HASHAM, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Turnitin F
ollowing Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s address at Bett UK 2026, the UK government announced a major shift in national AI and EdTech policy. With a £23 million expansion of EdTech Testbeds and a long-term digital strategy to be outlined in the next Schools White Paper, the initiative will challenge educational institutions to trial, evaluate and integrate AI tools across teaching and assessment.
While this represents an exciting opportunity, it also comes with major responsibilities. To ensure successful implementation, institutions must focus on three key areas: establishing strong AI governance, building AI literacy and leveraging EdTech Testbeds effectively. The foundation of success
Before piloting AI technologies, institutions should first establish clear AI governance frameworks. These frameworks, such as learning integrity policies or honour codes, should define ethical AI use, clarify expectations for authorship and citation, and outline when and how AI support is acceptable. For example, institution-wide policies might specify that AI tools can be used to organise ideas or gather basic facts, but not replace original student work. However, educators should tailor more targeted policies for different contexts, such as critical thinking versus subject knowledge assessment. Clear expectations at the outset, supported by context-specific policies will help educators and students navigate the ethical use of AI confidently. Strengthen AI literacy to build workforce readiness AI literacy is essential for both educators and students. Recent research reveals that only 43% of teachers feel confidence using AI, rating their
AI confidence low, at just three out of ten. To bridge this gap, requires meaningful investment in professional development programs that improve educators’ understanding of AI tools.
When teachers understand AI tools and their implications, they are better equipped to model responsible use, guide students effectively and prepare them for an AI-driven workforce.
Maximising the potential of EdTech Testbeds The expanded EdTech Testbeds provide institutions with a structured, low-risk environment to try AI tools before wider adoption, helping ensure that only the most effective solutions are implemented. To maximise the value of each trial, institutions should start by identifying a clear problem or priority area. Next, the school should test the tool with different learners and staff and gather comprehensive feedback. Throughout the trial, schools should also collect evidence on impact, usability, accessibility and workload implications.
Sharing insights across educational networks will help build a broader evidence base and support more confident decisions about AI adoption. The UK’s new AI strategy sets a bold vision for the future of education, yet its success depends on the readiness of individual institutions. By establishing clear governance policies, investing in AI literacy and engaging purposefully with the expanded Testbeds, institutions can ensure that AI enhances learning, rather than complicating it. Schools that take these steps now will be well positioned to lead with confidence as AI becomes an integral part of teaching and assessment.
A SIMPLE CHANGE FOR A STRONGER START Comment by MIKE FERRAND, Managing Director at Cool Milk
I
n Reception classrooms across England, an avoidable inequality plays out each day – at milk time, some children are handed their free carton, while others are not. The dividing line? Whether a child has turned five or not. This arbitrary cut-off creates inequality within the classroom, undermining some children’s nutrition at a critical stage of development, causing upset when friends are separated during breaktime, and adding unnecessary bureaucracy for schools.
My belief is that every child deserves access to nutritious milk, regardless of their background or circumstances. Which is why we are currently working with more than 200 local authorities and over 26,000 schools and early years settings and partnering with more than 400 dairies across the UK, to ensure that fresh, locally sourced milk reaches children who need it most. But we want to extend the free milk entitlement until the end of the Reception year, rather than once a child turns five. It is a modest, evidence- based policy change that would deliver outsized benefits. First and foremost, it is about giving children the best start in life. Nutrition in the early years is closely linked to cognitive development, attention and memory. Milk provides calcium, protein, iodine and vitamins essential for bone growth, tooth health and brain function. Extending the entitlement would support school readiness and help ensure the Government’s ambitions for children to have the “best start in life” do not plummet at five, as well as contributing to preventative health savings, easing pressure on the NHS.
Our proposed change is also about equality. Currently, only 13.5% of children’s parents choose to pay for school milk after the cut off point, meaning around 243,000 children lose access to this benefit after their
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www.education-today.co.uk
fifth birthday. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly less likely to continue accessing milk once it becomes chargeable. With 4.3 million children living below the poverty line, school milk may be their only reliable daily source of key nutrients. An inconsistent end to the entitlement exacerbates nutrition gaps that contribute to attainment, health and socio- economic disparities. A universal cut-off at the end of Reception would ensure equal access for all children throughout their first year of primary education.
Milk breaks themselves matter, too. They provide space for conversation, connection and relationship-building beyond formal lesson time. These moments help children develop confidence, belonging and social skills and give teachers valuable opportunities to monitor wellbeing and safeguarding concerns in an informal setting.
For schools, the benefits are practical. Tracking birthdays, managing payments and separating milk drinkers from non-drinkers places an avoidable administrative burden on already time-poor staff. A universal cut-off date at the end of Reception would streamline processes, reduce bureaucracy and prevent the behavioural and emotional challenges caused by dividing classmates.
In a policy landscape often dominated by complex reforms and competing priorities, this is a rare example of a simple, low-cost intervention with wide-ranging impact. Extending free milk to the end of Reception would promote fairness in classrooms, improve nutrition and cognitive development, support mental and dental health, reduce administrative burden and bolster rural economies.
No child should feel left out because of the month they were born. No teacher should have to explain why one Reception pupil receives milk and another does not.
If we are serious about levelling opportunity and giving every child the strongest possible foundation, then ensuring fair milk for a fair start is an obvious place to begin.
March 2026
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