Education Secretary speech at Bett UK Conference

In her speech, the Education Secretary, announced £23 million investment to expand the government's EdTech Testbeds pilot programme.

"Good morning, everyone. 

It is a real pleasure to be here with you all today. Thank you for inviting me to speak again. 

I began my speech last year by congratulating Bett on their 40th anniversary. 

So, in the interest of continuity, I want to begin my speech this year by congratulating Bett on their 41st anniversary. 

Thank you for yet another year of promoting EdTech and supporting better outcomes for students. 

Your impact is felt not just by learners here in Britain, but right around the world. 

Thank you for all your hard work in bringing us together today and for all you do throughout the year. 

Ladies and gentlemen, this morning I want to tell you about a teaching assistant called Dawn. 

Dawn works at Epsom and Ewell High School, about 20 miles southwest of here. 

She's a Specialist Sign Support Teaching Assistant, and she's been helping the school's Deaf children for almost two decades.  

She's seen generations of children, some with complex needs, come and go.  

In her words, she's done her best to help them reach for the stars. 

Like teaching assistants across the country, she pours her heart into the job, building deep bonds with her students. 

She cares so deeply that they get every opportunity to succeed. 

And her students couldn't fail to feel that warmth. 

But supporting different children with many different needs can be challenging. 

There was only so much she could do to adapt to meet the needs of multiple learners on any given day. 

But now AI is changing that. Dawn and her colleagues have been trained by Bourne Education Trust to be safe and confident users of AI. 

Now she can use AI tools to customise content in a fraction of the time, guided by her decades of experience. 

She can adapt the key points of a lesson to the child in front of her more quickly than ever. 

And she can do more to bring learning to life for those children with special educational needs and disabilities, alongside their peers, and with the use of AI. 

And so their school becomes a more inclusive place. 

Where all children can achieve and thrive. 

AI makes that possible. 

AI and EdTech can never and will never replace what Dawn does. But it can help her. 

Dawn's excited. 

And being here today I can feel that very same energy. 

AI can deliver the biggest leap forward for learning in centuries.  

Perhaps even since the invention of the printing press, when knowledge began to flow from the few to the many. 

And AI has shown its power for progress.  

Professor Demis Hassabis and Professor John Jumper used it for their revolutionary work on proteins. 

The work for which they won a Nobel Prize. 

If AI can help us to understand the building blocks of life, imagine what it can do for education. 

But it's my job not just to champion AI, but to make sure it's used safely and responsibly in education. 

And for me that is a non-negotiable. 

That's why on Monday I convened a summit with education leaders from around the world to discuss the use of generative AI in education. 

And to debate how we can really make it safe. 

I used that opportunity to launch this government's updated safety standards for schools.  

How we're getting ahead of emerging harms. 

From emotional and social development to mental health too. 

From promoting cognitive growth to restricting exploitative content 

And I'm determined to see more progress. 

And I'm delighted that companies like BESA, Microsoft and Pearson are partnering with us to meet those standards. 

That matters. Because we don't want our children kept on apps or on screens longer than necessary for their education. 

There is a big debate going on all across the world, I know. 

From social media to mobile phones to screen time. 

This government will act to keep children safe, online as well as offline.  

That's why earlier this week, building on those safety standards, and together with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, I announced a consultation to identify the next steps for this government's plans to boost children's wellbeing online.  

Backed by a national conversation, we'll look at restrictions on addictive features, a ban on social media access for children, and better age checks. 

And we all know that mobile phones have no place in our schools. 

AI learning tools are different, but we cannot be blind to the impact of time in front of a screen. 

In April this government will publish guidance on early years screen time. 

Practical advice based on the best evidence to help parents manage screen time alongside activities like talking, playing and reading together. 

And from there we'll develop screen time guidance for children and teenagers too. 

We're building on a host of actions my department has already taken, working with leading global tech firms, teachers and parents.  

Whatever we do with AI in education, it must be safe. 

And we will harness this power in the right way.  

So that all children benefit. 

To drive down the disadvantage gap and drive up expectations for what every child can achieve. 

AI makes it possible. 

And I'm pleased today to announce our five goals for AI in education. 

First and foremost, for our children, the support to achieve and thrive in the digital world. 

Every child leaving school equipped with the media literacy and digital skills that they need to succeed. 

That means the right qualifications. 

Following the curriculum and assessment review, we'll explore the development of a level 3 qualification in data science and AI. 

And we're now working to digitise our refreshed National Curriculum, showing links and progression across subjects.  

The second goal is for our schools workforce – the confidence and the expertise to make the most of digital and AI. 

Driving engaging lessons, deploying assistive tech, and freeing up teachers to spend more time teaching. 

The third goal is for teaching and learning – the right EdTech and AI. 

Tools that are safe and effective. 

Drawing directly from our digital curriculum. 

Shaped by the realities of school life. 

Building on the best of what the sector is already doing. 

Such as Oak National Academy's innovative AI lesson assistant, Aila, which keeps teachers in control of lesson content creation whilst saving them vital time too. 

And Oak is putting the content that drives Aila out into the open for others to use. 

That's the spirit of our fourth goal, for a data driven school system – a new data spine and open data standards to connect and share information. 

Unlocking the insights that were previously trapped in closed systems. 

And the fifth and final goal, for our schools – safe and reliable connectivity and infrastructure. 

High-speed internet in every school and much more. 

Colleagues, we will have so much on which to build. 

I'm so proud that the UK is an EdTech powerhouse that can boost learning around the world. 

It's at the centre of this government's new International Education Strategy - our roadmap for working with our friends and neighbours abroad to meet the global demand for EdTech. 

At home, we're leading quality – joining up with industry, schools, teachers, leaders and learners. 

And the evidence tells us that AI can't be about making things easy.  

It must be about helping children to rise to the challenge of learning. 

Mastering the curriculum, growing a love of learning. 

Not spoon feeding them the cold mush of easy answers. Not a shortcut. 

But figuring things out first, often getting it wrong first. Then with the right feedback and support, thinking it through, working hard, getting it right. 

Helping prepare children for work and life. 

But schools and families need to be able to choose technology with confidence. And I know there's more to do. 

To keep building that evidence base I can announce today that we're investing an additional £23 million to expand our EdTech Testbed pilot into a 4-year programme. 

It'll recruit schools and colleges to put the latest tech and AI tools through their paces, in the cut and thrust of classrooms across the country. 

We'll track how those tools perform, the difference they make for teachers, and above all the difference they can make for children. 

Genuine evidence about what's working.  

The cream of education tech and AI rising to the top, so we can spread that transformative potential far and wide. 

I'm so excited about AI because it means that we have the chance to make education work better for every single learner. 

That's my dream. 

An education system that can shrink the disadvantage gap. 

That can provide support and stretch and ambition. 

That can champion our children with SEND. 

AI makes it possible.  

But I know that there's plenty of innovation happening in EdTech that isn't focused on AI. 

And there are many incredible new technologies to support learners with special educational needs in particular.  

For many children, that isn't just a nice to have.  

It's fundamental to their learning. 

That's why we're exploring innovative ways to bring that tech into the classroom.  

This year we've invested £1.6 million to pilot lending libraries for assistive technology. 

The right tech is already reaching children with SEND across the country. 

For example, in Hartlepool children who are non-verbal will now, for the first time, have access to devices that help them speak to their teachers and their classmates.  

And we know the difference these devices can make from training my department has run in the past.  

One parent told us it made their daughter a lot happier in the classroom. 

She's more confident, now that she can make herself understood. 

AI and edtech can power the learning of that little girl and children across the country. 

But let's not forget, for that one thing matters above all else: is our teachers. 

To change a child's life, there's nothing to match a great teacher at the top of their game. 

AI can do so much for our education system. But it will never replace the human light of learning, passed down from one generation to the next.  

That can never be traded in for the latest tech. Nor can AI replace our wonderful workforce, who bring so much passion into the classroom. 

No. They are – they always will be – the beating heart of our schools and colleges, our nurseries and universities. 

AI will change so much, but not that. Dawn shows why the human connection matters. 

She knows her students, when they need some extra reassurance, a smile to make them feel safe, a joke to put them at ease. The children feel that connection and know they belong. 

We need to take what's great about the people in education, and combine it with the incredible power of AI. 

So today I can announce that we will deliver new skills pathways for our teachers and support staff. 

Together with the sector, we'll design a clear framework to help staff build digital, data and tech skills. 

And we'll fold them into existing qualifications and training programmes. 

Soon this government will publish our schools white paper. 

It'll be a big moment in the history of education in this country. 

And it'll also set the direction into the 2030s and beyond. 

Through the white paper we will build a system that can at long last work its magic in the lives of every child. 

From let down to included, all children will achieve and thrive at school. 

Their education will shift from narrow to broad. 

And the communities who have lost faith in education, that faith will be restored. 

No longer withdrawn, but engaged in learning once more. 

We will build a system for the good of every child. 

So that no matter who you are, you can succeed at school. 

To break the link between background and destiny… 

That's the dream, the goal, the vision. 

AI makes it possible. 

A sprinkling of star dust within our white paper. 

Led by government, guided by teachers, driven by developers, 

AI can help us deliver the excellent education that every child deserves. 

Thank you."