Only 9% of UK teachers feel confident teaching AI. BCS has a free course to fix that
That number comes from BCS’s own website. Not a think tank. Not a campaigning union. The Chartered Institute for IT.
Nine percent of teachers feel confident teaching AI. Fifty-seven percent think it is going to play a bigger role in schools. Nobody seems to be joining those two dots loudly enough.
BCS has quietly launched something called AI Confidence. It is free. It does not require membership. It does not require any prior knowledge. Each module is about an hour. You get a badge at the end you can put on LinkedIn.
It was tested in real schools — Ark and the Harris Federation — before it went live. That matters. Most AI teacher training reads like it was written by someone who has never set foot in a staffroom.
What is actually in it
Four modules at the moment, each aimed at a different person in the building.
The first one, getting Started with AI in Educationg, is for anyone. Teacher, TA, admin staff, governor. What AI is, how it works, what safe use looks like day to day.
The second is for school leaders specifically. Not just what AI does but when to use it, when not to, and what accountability looks like when a machine is involved in a decision. That is the conversation most leadership teams are not having yet.
The third is for SENCOs and anyone supporting students with additional needs. Accessibility tools, safeguarding, data protection, evaluating whether a tool is actually safe to use. This one is probably the most underrated of the four.
The fourth is aimed at careers leads and sixth formers, how AI is changing hiring, what jobs look like, what it means for students who are about to enter the workforce.
Why this is worth talking about
The NEU surveyed over 9,400 state school teachers earlier this year. It found 79% had received no formal AI training. In independent schools that figure is 45%. That gap does not close on its own. – See our full deep dive into the NEU Ai Report
AI Confidence is not going to fix everything. But it is free, it takes an hour, it was built for schools not tech companies, and it exists right now. Most AI CPD either costs hundreds of pounds or is a YouTube video with no accreditation behind it. This sits in the middle ground that has been empty until now.
Sign up at ai-confidence. No membership needed. Pass the quiz, get the badge, share it with your staff.
