A national programme to build confidence in AI across the UK education workforce will help tens of thousands of teachers and education professionals develop the skills they need for an AI-enabled future.

AI Confidence is a free, open-access professional development programme created by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT in collaboration with Microsoft Elevate, The Hg Foundation and Cognizant. 

The programme is for anyone working in a UK school or college, with no prior experience of AI required. The initiative aims to upskill 40,000 education professionals, recognising that AI readiness is a broader workforce challenge, not just a technology one.

Ready to build AI confidence across your school or college? Find out more and sign up.

Teachers need more support to use AI effectively

While 57% of teachers believe AI will play a bigger role in education, only 16% of UK teachers currently feel confident teaching AI, according to the Pearson School Report 2026. 

AI Confidence has been designed to close that gap through short, practical learning that fits around busy working lives. 

Some of the AI Confidence elements were trialled through two Multi Academy Trusts (MATs), the Harris Federation, and Ark, to grow the self-assurance and expertise of staff working with AI. The MATs, which serve some of the country’s most disadvantaged communities, have been supporting the development of the programme to ensure it fully meets the needs of teachers working in today’s classrooms. 

AI for Leadership, inclusion and workplace readiness

By the start of the school year, the programme will feature four 60-minute online CPD modules, each offering digital badging: 

Getting Started with AI in Education – Introducing the basics of AI, what it is, how it works, and how it can simplify everyday school life.
Exploring AI in the World of Work – Exploring how AI is reshaping careers and recruitment, AI’s impact on the job market, and the new employment opportunities AI will create for young people.
Supporting inclusion with AI – Sharing practical, safe, and inclusive ways to use AI to support learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
AI for School Leaders – Helping education leaders understand how to turn AI strategy into improved teaching, learning and outcomes, set and assure governance for AI adoption, and enable safe, compliant, and sustainable AI at scale.

The programme shows how AI supports professional judgement, rather than replacing it. It also teaches time saving techniques in aspects like lesson planning, and shows how to recognise bias and hallucinations.

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