Accenture and Teach First found that AI use is growing across English schools, while formal strategy, staff training and confidence remain limited.
Artificial intelligence is already being used across schools in England, but only 2% of those surveyed have developed a full strategy for how it should support teaching, learning and school operations, according to research from Accenture and Teach First.
The study found that 12% of surveyed schools had an AI policy in place and 20% provided AI-focused staff training. Nearly two-thirds of school leaders, 63%, identified limited staff confidence or skills as a barrier to adoption.
The research combines a survey of nearly 200 school leaders with 30 semi-structured interviews and six interviews with AI and education specialists. The report focuses mainly on secondary schools in England.
Teachers are already using AI for activities including lesson planning, quiz creation and drafting exam questions, according to the school leaders surveyed. However, the report found that this use was often developing informally rather than through a consistent school-wide approach.
Accenture and Teach First recommend that school leaders use AI themselves, set clear purposes and boundaries, begin with lower-risk applications and create opportunities for staff to test tools and share what they learn.
The report distinguishes between policies that establish rules for AI use and broader strategies covering what schools want the technology to achieve, where it should be limited and how staff capability will be developed.
Although 12% of surveyed schools reported having an AI policy, only 2% said they had a fully developed strategy. Accenture and Teach First describe the remaining activity as fragmented, with schools often making local decisions without a shared model or system for exchanging evidence.
Among the school leaders surveyed, 60% said they used AI at least weekly. This included 16% who used it daily and 44% who used it at least once a week. A further 14% reported that they did not use AI.
Most leaders were positive about its potential. The report found that 79% agreed AI could improve teaching and learning outcomes, although interviews suggested that many were clearer about possible risks than about specific educational uses.
Concerns included plagiarism, safeguarding, inaccurate or biased information, data privacy and the possibility that staff or pupils could become too reliant on AI-generated work.
Staff capability was the most frequently reported obstacle. Some 63% of leaders identified a lack of staff confidence or skills, while 51% cited data privacy concerns and 41% pointed to limited understanding of how AI could support teaching.
Cost was cited by 16%, making it a less common concern than confidence, privacy or limited knowledge.
Matt Prebble, Head of Accenture in the UK and Ireland, says: “Artificial intelligence is no longer a future consideration for schools, it is already embedded in day-to-day teaching and learning. This research shows adoption is moving faster than the strategy, training and support needed to sustain it.”
He adds: “Many school leaders are navigating this shift without clear guidance or the confidence to implement the technology effectively.”
Only one in five surveyed schools currently provided AI-focused training. Three in 10 leaders estimated that fewer than 20% of teachers in their schools felt confident using AI. These figures reflect school leaders’ assessments rather than responses collected directly from teachers.
The report found that adoption was more consistent in schools where senior leaders used AI themselves and demonstrated how it could be applied. Schools with more skeptical or disengaged leadership were described as having slower and less coordinated adoption.
This relationship does not show that leadership use alone causes stronger adoption. Schools with more established digital capacity, staff expertise or access to technology may also be better positioned to introduce AI.
The report found a regional difference in leaders’ own use. In London, 29% of surveyed school leaders said they used AI every day, compared with 12% across the rest of England.
That comparison measures daily AI use among leaders, rather than verified classroom adoption, pupil access or educational outcomes. The study does not establish whether London schools use AI more effectively or whether students receive greater benefit.
Accenture and Teach First warn that uneven access to staff development and technology could widen existing differences between schools and regions.
James Toop, Chief Executive Officer of Teach First, says: “Artificial intelligence has the potential to support teaching and reduce workload pressures, but there’s a real risk that variable access to technology and training could deepen existing inequalities between schools and pupils, particularly outside of London.”
He adds: “Too many teachers and school leaders are being left to navigate these changes without the guidance or support they need.”
School leaders reported that teachers were using AI to reduce preparation time through activities such as drafting lesson materials, creating questions and producing administrative content.
The research did not independently measure how many hours teachers saved, whether AI-generated resources were accurate or whether its use improved pupil attainment. Its findings on benefits are based primarily on leaders’ accounts and interviews.
Accenture and Teach First recommend five steps for schools.
The first is for leaders to engage directly with AI and demonstrate responsible use. Schools are also advised to define their purpose and boundaries before widening access, including the activities for which AI is appropriate and those where human judgment must remain central.
The report recommends beginning with lower-risk uses where the value is easier to identify, while building toward a broader plan. It also calls for schools to allow controlled experimentation within clear professional and safeguarding limits.
The final recommendation is to develop capability through ongoing shared learning rather than relying only on standalone training sessions. This could involve staff comparing tools, discussing mistakes and sharing examples of effective practice.
The survey represents roughly 6% of England’s secondary school sector and was supplemented by interviews intended to provide additional context. It does not claim to be a complete audit of AI use in every school, and it does not include direct measures of pupil outcomes.
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