AI in Education: Are Your Staff Ready to Use It?

In this article, Christine unpacks the Department for Education’s AI in Education report. She shares the key findings and explores what providers should be doing now to upskill staff. She explains how AI can be used to make Maths, English and digital skills more relevant, personalised and embedded in real-world vocational contexts, and why this shift needs to be deliberate, supported and inclusive if it’s to benefit all learners.

Generative AI (Gen AI) in education is no longer a future trend, it’s already here. The Department for Education’s Generative AI in Education report shows that over 40% of teachers have used AI in their role, up from just 17% a few months earlier. But while adoption is rising quickly, many educators still lack the AI literacy, confidence and practical strategies needed to use it well.

This is especially true when it comes to contextualising Maths, English and digital skills in vocational and adult learning. These skills are critical for employability, everyday life and learner progression. Gen AI offers new opportunities to make them more relevant, personalised and inclusive. This article explores what providers need to do now to upskill staff and ensure Gen AI is used effectively, ethically and with positive impact.

Why AI Upskilling Matters for Educators Now

The rapid growth of Gen AI in education means staff need more than just awareness, they need the ability to use AI confidently and appropriately in lesson planning, delivery, assessment and learner support.

Without targeted AI CPD for FE providers, the risk is inconsistent use, poor-quality outputs and a widening gap between organisations that embrace AI effectively and those that fall behind. For providers, the challenge is to move staff from passive curiosity to active competence and to do it quickly enough to keep pace with sector change.

Building AI Literacy Across the Workforce

AI literacy for educators goes beyond knowing what tools exist. 

It’s about understanding:

• How Gen AI works and its strengths and limitations.
• How to write effective prompts that lead to relevant, accurate outputs.
• How to evaluate AI-generated content critically, checking for bias and “hallucinations.”
• How to ensure safeguarding, GDPR compliance and responsible use.

Providers can embed AI training into initial teacher education, staff induction and ongoing CPD. 

Role-specific support is key: for example, teachers may focus on lesson planning and assessment uses; while leaders work on policy development, infrastructure planning and governance.

An effective approach is to develop internal AI champions who can trial tools, share practice and coach colleagues, building confidence from within.

Practical Ways AI Can Support Maths, English and Digital Skills

One of the strongest opportunities for AI in education is using it to create contextualised learning activities that connect directly to learners’ vocational areas and real-life experiences:

• Maths: AI can generate industry-specific numeracy tasks, from calculating construction materials to producing retail sales forecasts.
• English: It can adapt texts for reading comprehension, produce workplace communication scenarios, or support vocational report writing.
• Digital skills: AI can simulate spreadsheet modelling, offer coding support, or guide learners through multimedia content creation.

Because AI tools can quickly adjust complexity and language level, they’re ideal for personalising learning while maintaining curriculum alignment.

Creating Inclusive and Accessible AI-Driven Learning

AI can be a powerful inclusion tool. For example, it can:

• Translate resources instantly for EAL learners.
• Simplify language or scaffold problem-solving for those with low confidence in Maths or English.
• Produce audio, visual and text-based versions of the same content to suit different learning styles.

For learners who have previously struggled with core skills, these small adjustments can transform engagement and confidence. However, this depends on educators having the AI literacy to use tools thoughtfully and adaptively.

Bridging the Digital Divide in Further Education

The DfE report warns of a risk: well-resourced institutions with strong digital strategies will benefit from AI more quickly than those without the same infrastructure or training capacity.

Providers must ensure that AI adoption is equitable. This means investing in both the hardware/software needed and the professional development to use it effectively. Without this balance, AI could widen, rather than close, existing skills gaps.

Taking the Next Steps to Embed AI in Education

To make the most of AI in education, providers should:

• Treat AI competence as a core professional skill.
• Offer tiered AI CPD for FE providers, from introductory to advanced.
• Provide safe spaces for experimentation and sharing practice.
• Create clear policies that enable innovation while managing risk.

The question is no longer whether AI will influence teaching and learning, it’s whether your staff are ready to use it well and in ways that enhance Maths, English and digital skills for every learner.

To make the most of AI in education, providers should:

• Treat AI competence as a core professional skill.
• Offer tiered AI CPD for FE providers, from introductory to advanced.
• Provide safe spaces for experimentation and sharing practice.
• Create clear policies that enable innovation while managing risk.

The question is no longer whether AI will influence teaching and learning, it’s whether your staff are ready to use it well and in ways that enhance Maths, English and digital skills for every learner.

Over the past year, I’ve been working closely with providers across the post-16 sector to help their teams build confidence and capability in using AI — from integrating it into Maths, English and digital skills delivery, to developing organisation-wide AI literacy strategies. 

If your organisation is exploring how to embed AI in education effectively and inclusively, I can help you design a practical, tailored approach that works for your context. Why not get in touch for a no-obligation chat about where you are now and where you’d like to be.