AI has entered the classroom - but is it the solution for overworked teachers?

9 hours ago

Hayley ClarkeEducation reporter

Great Schools Trust

An AI deepfake avatar of Benjamin Barker, Director of AI at Great Schools Trust and principal of Kings Leadership Academy Wavertree

Schools across the UK are trialling the use of deepfake teachers and even employing remote staff to deliver lessons hundreds of miles away from the classroom.

It comes as the use of AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in schools.

The government says AI has the power to transform education, and improve teacher workload, particularly around admin for teachers.

The BBC has spoken to teachers, school leaders and unions who seem divided on what the future of the UK’s classrooms should look like.

Emily Cooke

Maths teacher Emily Cooke says teaching is about more than just imparting knowledge

Emily Cooke is a maths teacher at The Valley Leadership Academy in Lancashire, which has hired a virtual maths teacher - a decision Mrs Cooke is strongly against.

"Will your virtual teacher be there to dance with you at prom, hug your mum during results day, or high-five you in the corridor because they know you won the match last night?" she says.

Since September, top set pupils in Year 9, 10 and 11 at Mrs Cooke’s school have been taught by the remote maths teacher, who is based 300 miles away in Devon.

Teachers went on strike over the move last week and this week.

The school said it was a "small-scale initiative" but the National Education Union (NEU) called it an "unacceptable situation".

Mrs Cooke says: "As a parent, as a teacher, I don’t think that teacher-student relationship, which is so important, can be formed or replicated over a screen."

The school told the BBC that its approach is a "win-win", where "pupils benefit from lessons delivered by an outstanding specialist teacher online" who is supported in the classroom by a second teacher.

‘It’s like having a digital twin’

Watch deepfake example video of school teacher translating message for parents into multiple languages

At a different academy, AI experiments are going further than most.

Shane Ierston, CEO of Great Schools Trust, says giving children in his schools in Liverpool, Warrington and Bolton a "top class, world-quality education" is his priority.

Mr Ierston believes clever use of AI can help to free up teachers’ time to focus on building students’ character, leadership and resilience.

Teachers there can already use its AI system to mark assessments and mock exams, which they say is more accurate.

Director of AI at the trust, Benjamin Barker, says the AI technology can identify gaps in students’ learning and help teachers to plan future lessons.

After marking, the AI deepfake will produce a bespoke feedback video for each child.

The technology is due to be trialled this year, before getting feedback from staff, students and parents.

Using AI "as a leveller" will make sure every child gets "personalised tuition", with the teacher in the room making sure they understand, Mr Ierston says.

Having a deepfake will be "completely voluntary for teachers", he adds.

"What we’re not trying to do is replace teachers," says Mr Ierston. "We’re trying to use technology - things that have got a bad reputation - and see how it can be used to benefit society.

"That’s the future."

Deepfakes will also be used to help absent pupils catch up from home, or to translate parent messages into the 46 languages spoken across the schools.

When asked what they would say to those who oppose children interacting with deepfake technology, Mr Ierston says it’s "only natural" that people will fear change.

"But we would much rather be leading the change than Silicon Valley doing it for us," he says.

"We know that what we’re doing has got children and the right values at the heart."

Nicola Burrows

Nicola Burrows taught at the Great Schools Trust for many years, where her children also attended

Nicola Burrows works for the trust, and has a daughter, Lucy, in Year 11.

When asked for her thoughts on Lucy getting feedback from an AI deepfake of her teacher, she says it would be "really quite special having that very specific personalisation with a face you know".

But adds that it is "really important that we bring the parents with us" when it comes to new initiatives, including addressing any concerns over safety.

‘There’s a long way to go to convince parents’

Technology, screens and AI in the classroom are divisive topics, particularly among parents.

"I think it’s fair to say that parents are deeply sceptical about AI," says Frank Young, chief policy officer of charity Parentkind, a national charity that aims to give parents a voice in education.

Just 12% think AI should be used in the classroom, according to its annual survey results, which over 5,000 parents responded to in April this year.

"But I think we can get there if parents are provided with reassurance over how this AI will be used and how it will benefit the children," Mr Young says.

There are no official figures on how many schools are using AI in the classroom with students, but Ofsted is gathering evidence about how AI is being used in schools and FE colleges.

Data from survey tool Teacher Tapp, which asks thousands of teachers a series of questions each day, found that in October 2024, 31% of teachers said they’d used AI in the past week to help with their work. By October 2025, that had risen to 58%.

John Roberts, chief executive at Oak National Academy, which provides lesson planning resources for teachers funded by the DfE, says more than 40,000 teachers have used its experimental AI lesson planning tool since it launched in September last year.

Emily (front right), says virtual teachers should only be used for children who cannot access school

‘This approach is a win win’

Back at The Valley, Mrs Cooke says she does not think online learning is as effective as face to face, pointing to the "huge gaps" in learning from Covid, when schools closed and millions of lessons moved online.

"I thought we were trying to get teenagers off screens, not give them to them for five hours a week in their maths lessons?" she says.

"The fear is, if we do not stop this, if it goes unchallenged at The Valley, it will spread," she says.

"And in 20 years time, what is education going to look like? And are we okay with that?"

A spokesperson for the academy says remote teaching in the school is "not comparable" to pandemic-era teaching, as it is "structured, supported, and takes place in school".

It says hiring a remote teacher is a "small-scale, targeted response to the national shortage of specialist maths teachers. Our priority is, and always will be, to ensure pupils receive the highest quality teaching."

There are now three virtual teachers being used across the trust "deployed in very specific circumstances where recruitment of high-quality subject specialists has been exceptionally difficult", it says.

The Department for Education says technology must be "carefully managed to enhance – not replace - the deep thinking, creativity and critical engagement that underpin effective learning".

But NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede says the union is against remote teaching, and will "never tolerate the imposition of a virtual teacher".

The trust in charge of The Valley says it is committed to working positively with its NEU colleagues to resolve this matter.