Education Secretary outlines plans to modernise education sector

Education Secretary to announce plans for digital revolution in schools at the Bett Show in London.

The Department for Education is heralding a digital revolution in education as Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson will set out plans to “take up this great new technological era to modernise our education system, back our teachers and deliver for our children”.

Delivering the keynote address at The Bett Show today (January 22), she will set out expansive plans to harness technology to transform teaching. 

She will tell the delegation how teaching will be revolutionised by the way the sector engages with tech at every stage - breaking down barriers to opportunity by ensuring every student and teacher can access the tools and support they need to succeed .From knowing what tech to buy all the way through to teacher training and classroom usage, she will set out a raft of measures that will cut through costly and time-consuming processes and help drive high and rising standards in education. 

She is expected to say: 

The world of even five years ago is gone forever, now we must seize the opportunities of the future.

We can hope for a brighter future for our children – delivered by a digital revolution in education.

I will take up this great new technological era to modernise our education system, to back our teachers and to deliver better life chances for our children across the country

Research shows that effective use of technology drives pupil performance. The Education Endowment Foundation found that when used effectively, digital technology can accelerate learning by two to three months. Separately, the Department for Education's Technology in Schools Surveyshows over two thirds of school leaders reported that pupil attainment has been bolstered by use of technology in education. 

Today's announcement comes hot on the heels of the government announcing sweeping measures to harness the benefits of tech to transform public services – using AI and tech to usher in a decade of renewal and saving the taxpayer billions in efficiency savings to drive forward the Plan for Change.  The plan sets out how the government will harness AI to improve the lives of working people –speeding up planning consultations to get Britain building, improving NHS services and using AI to spot potholes and help improve roads. 

The Education Secretary will set out how using AI to reduce workload will help unlock the recruitment and retention crisis – so that once again teaching can be a profession that sparks joy, not burnout where teachers can focus on what really matters – teaching children.

Speaking of the AI revolution, she will say: 

Each great moment of technological change throughout history came with fears for an unfamiliar future. But I know AI can be a radical, modernising force for change, a force for good in the lives of working people and I am so excited for what it means for education.

To ensure the safety of our children the department will today announce that leading global tech firms have jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use.  

The AI Product Safety Expectations in Education framework sets out clear technical safeguards including prioritising child-centred design and enhanced filtering of harmful content. It represents the most detailed set of safety expectations for AI in education anywhere in the world. This is on top of a new package of training and guidance for teachers and leaders to help them confidently and safely unlock the time-saving benefits of AI – meaning less time spent on burdensome admin and more time delivering inspiring lessons for pupils. The resources will be developed by the Chiltern Learning Trust with the Chartered College of Teaching and will be ready in Spring 2025. 

The conference will also hear how the department plans to use tech to transform outcomes for vulnerable pupils, breaking down the barriers to opportunity for all. For the first time, all new teachers will be trained on the effective use of assistive technology to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. Evidence shows that using readily-available, low-cost technology – such as dictation tools or text to speech software – is a key part of high-quality teaching for SEND pupils. But only 13% of teachers received training on accessibility features between 2021 and 2023.  

A pilot of the assistive technology training in mainstream schools found staggering benefits to users, teachers and the wider class. Over eight out of ten of teachers and school staff surveyed said their students' independence, confidence and engagement improved, with six out of ten seeing improved attainment. 

One teacher, said: “We now have students accessing entry-level and functional skills, who couldn't access that without assistive technology, so they are actually coming out with qualifications that they may not have been able to come out with previously.” 

It means parents can be assured that their child with special educational needs can get the most out of specialist technology - enhancing the learning experience for many by increasing participation, achievement and a sense of belonging.  

But these technological interventions will only work if schools and colleges have the right tech for their needs. Lack of awareness about the right technology creates a digital divide, where some students and staff benefit from the opportunities of new technologies and others are struggling to navigate the basics.  

Today, the Education Secretary will tell the delegation about a new service that will cut time and money spent on buying tech – helping leaders navigate an often-complex market and ensuring every penny spent will mean better standards for pupils and teachers.  

Plan Technology for Your School helps schools prioritise where to invest in tech, based on a personalised assessment of their needs. The service focuses on essential technology that ensures they are compliant with digital standards, giving them the digital foundations needed to start harnessing the full potential of tech to transform teaching 

This is in addition to a new EdTech Evidence Board. The pilot will be delivered by the Chartered College of Teaching to explore how we effectively build evidence of AI products that work well, helping education settings feel confident that they are choosing products that work well for them and for their classrooms. 

DfE is also developing an evolving digital service that is bringing together services and information from the department into one easy-to-navigate place. Currently DfE Connect is supporting leaders and administrators in mainstream pre-16 academies tackle their standard mandatory finance tasks and source funding information more quickly freeing up vital leadership time, so that school leaders can focus on effective teaching and learning practice and administrators can focus on getting best value from their budgets. In the future we'll be adding more users and further features to help service users navigate other support on offer that helps them achieve better value for money across their school budgets. 

These transformative measures to modernise our education system through technology exemplify the government's commitment to driving positive change, ensuring every child - regardless of their circumstances - has access to the tools, support and opportunities they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world.