Home › The guidance map
The Use of AI Policy doesn’t stand on its own. It sits within a body of law, statutory guidance and sector standards. This page maps the whole of it in one place.
| Framework | What it requires | Where it lands on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 | The statutory safeguarding baseline from 1 September 2026; addresses AI within its four areas of online risk. | Safeguarding, pupil use, filtering & monitoring, breaches |
| UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018 — as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 | The core data protection law: lawful basis, roles, transfers, retention, automated decision-making, breach reporting. | Data protection, impact assessment, acceptable use |
| ICO guidance on AI & the AI and data protection risk toolkit | How the regulator expects AI risk to data to be assessed and managed. | Data protection, impact assessment |
| ICO Children’s Code | Applies wherever children’s data is processed: best interests first, high-privacy defaults, profiling off by default. | Pupil use, data protection |
| Equality Act 2010 & the public sector equality duty | Applies to AI-assisted work as to everything else; bias and discrimination duties. | Accuracy & oversight, acceptable use |
| DfE position on generative AI & the DfE generative AI product safety standards (January 2026) | The Department’s expectations for safe AI products in education, including on training on personal data. | Approved tools, impact assessment, product safety |
| JCQ guidance on AI use in assessments | Where qualifications are involved: malpractice, disclosure, and not relying on AI as the sole marker. | Acceptable use, accuracy & oversight |
| DfE filtering & monitoring, cyber security, and digital leadership & governance standards | The technical and governance standards that make tool approval enforceable and assured. | Filtering & monitoring, roles & oversight |
| Online Safety Act 2023 & the Ofcom Protection of Children code | Illegal and harmful content duties, including AI-generated sexual imagery of children. | Safeguarding & Prevent |
| Prevent duty guidance (2023) & Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 | The counter-radicalisation duty and multi-agency safeguarding action. | Safeguarding & Prevent, breaches |
| Academy Trust Handbook / scheme for financing schools / Schools Financial Value Standard | The financial governance framework that applies to procurement and oversight. | Roles & oversight, approved tools |
Frameworks and their commencement dates change. Confirm the current version of each one before you rely on it, and take your own professional or legal advice where there’s any doubt. This map is a signpost, not a statement of the law.