Now available: a new report covering nine practitioner-led action research projects on AI in schools
Artificial intelligence is already present in England’s schools. Teachers use it to mark work, plan lessons, prepare materials, support pupils with special educational needs, and streamline administration. Students use it for research, writing, summarising, revision, language drills, and mathematics practice. But using AI tools does not necessarily mean learning with or from them.
Adoption of AI in England has been rapid, but it has also been uneven and largely unsupported by evidence. The Shape the Future Leaders Coalition research programme, supported by Professor Rose Luckin and Educate Ventures Research, Good Future Foundation, and Cambridge OCR, was established to change that.
This new report presents the findings of the Coalition’s first research cohort: nine practitioner-led action research projects conducted over the 2025/26 school year by school and trust leaders from across England, in settings ranging from a preparatory school to a 48-school multi-academy trust, with pupils aged 4 to 18. The projects were designed separately, around different tools and questions, but read together they converge on six key findings and a common message: the tool is the smallest part of the intervention.
Who we are
We are education system heads and leaders from schools, Multi Academy Trusts, and school groups who collectively represent leadership in over 400 schools, encompassing approximately 32,000 staff, and ¼ million young people across England.
The Shape the Future Leaders Coalition serves those involved in school leadership, including the many stakeholders working within and around schools, to support safe, purposeful, and intelligent approaches to the use of AI by young people and the school workforce.
To join the Coalition, you must be (or nominate) a member of your school's senior leadership team (or equivalent). This includes business leaders in a school or trust. All schools are eligible. International schools may join as observers of the Coalition and its activities, however, leaders should be aware the Coalition is a UK initiative and focussed on the UK education sector.
The Coalition is an initiative supported by Educate Ventures Research, led by Professor Rose Luckin (UCL/IOE). Educate Ventures Research is an innovative boutique consultancy and training provider, dedicated to helping education organisations leverage AI to unlock insights, enhance learning, and drive positive outcomes and impact.
We look forward to working together.
Credit to Fabian Broeker, Centre for Data Futures, Kings College London
What we do
The Coalition's mission is to advance the use and understanding of ethical AI in education. With the support of key sponsors and commercial partners, and a launch event at the House of Lords in January 2026, the Coalition focusses on seven key areas for inquiry and research:
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AI & Digital Pedagogy will examine how AI tools might transform teaching practices, instructional design and classroom interaction patterns. This might include investigating the potential integration of AI-powered learning tools, their possible impact on pedagogical approaches, and the development of new teaching strategies that could effectively leverage AI capabilities. Leader: Lex Lang, Deputy Headteacher, Caterham School
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Leveraging Data and Generating Insights will explore how schools might effectively utilise the vast data generated through AI systems to inform teaching and learning decisions. This might include investigating potential approaches to data analysis, visualisation and interpretation that could be accessible to educators, as well as examining how data-driven insights might be meaningfully integrated into pedagogical decision-making. Leader: Richard Alton, Deputy Headteacher, Epsom College
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Business, Operations Systems and AI will explore the strategic integration of AI-enhanced solutions across school, college and trust environments. This will include evaluating how artificial intelligence can streamline administrative workflows, optimise communication networks and facilitate data-driven leadership decisions whilst strengthening operational efficiency. Leader: Helen Anderson, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Meridian Trust
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Addressing Inequity and the Digital Divide (sponsored by Good Future Foundation) will examine how AI implementation might interact with existing patterns of educational inequality and explore potential strategies to ensure equitable access and outcomes. This might include investigating issues of technological access, digital literacy development, algorithmic bias, and approaches to using AI to potentially reduce rather than reinforce educational disparities. Leader: Rowena Kidd, Deputy Head Teacher, Stretford High School
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Implementing Innovative AI will explore potential approaches to designing, developing and implementing novel AI applications tailored to specific educational needs. This might include investigating processes for identifying opportunities for innovation, co-designing AI tools with educators and learners, and establishing potential frameworks for effectively integrating new AI solutions into existing educational ecosystems. Leader: Alice King, Associate Principal, Beauchamp College
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Special Educational Needs and Disability and Personalised Learning will investigate how AI technologies might support individualised learning experiences for students with diverse needs and abilities. This might include examining how AI tools could potentially assist in identifying learning differences, adapting content and assessments to individual requirements, facilitating more accessible learning environments, and empowering educators to deliver more responsive and tailored instruction whilst maintaining high expectations for all learners. Leader: Heba Al-Jayoosi, Inclusion & Research Lead at Mayflower Primary School, Deputy Regional Lead at Whole School SEND
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Early Years will investigate how AI technologies might enhance developmental learning experiences for children in pre-school and reception settings. This might include examining how age-appropriate AI tools could support play-based learning, language acquisition and early numeracy skills, exploring potential frameworks for introducing digital literacy foundations whilst maintaining priority on physical and social development, and investigating how AI might assist educators in observing, documenting and responding to individual developmental trajectories. Leader: Dan Davies - Assistant Headteacher for Digital Development at Woodland Academy
Cross-cutting themes of the research include Data, which will be explored with the support of Kings College London's Data Empowerment Clinic, and Assessment, for which the Coalition has partnered with Cambridge OCR.
The Coalition was originally founded from education system leaders who took part in research from February to July 2024 examining how MATs and school groups should respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by AI in education.
Shape the Future Leaders Coalition Research Celebration, 9th January 2026
We were delighted to celebrate the official launch of the Shape the Future Leaders Coalition research projects at the House of Lords, Westminster, on 9th January 2026, hosted by Lord Jim Knight and Professor Rose Luckin.
The exclusive afternoon event brought together Coalition members, research strand leaders, partners and sponsors, and key figures from education, EdTech, and the AI sectors in the distinguished setting of Parliament's second chamber.
Partnerships
We are delighted to announce that Good Future Foundation (GFF) has chosen to partner with the Shape the Future Coalition as the exclusive sponsor of the "Addressing Inequity and the Digital Divide" research strand. This collaboration brings together the Coalition's practitioner-led research approach with GFF's mission to "equip all educators to confidently prepare every student, regardless of background, to benefit from and succeed in an AI-infused world."
Good Future Foundation's commitment to providing free access to high-quality AI resources and their innovative AI Quality Mark program, which guides schools in safely implementing AI tools, aligns brilliantly with the research focus on ensuring AI enhances rather than reinforces educational disparities. GFF's values-driven approach complements the evidence-based research methodology fostered across the 400+ participating schools.
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We are delighted to announce that Cambridge OCR has chosen to partner with the Shape the Future Leaders Coalition as sponsor of the “AI and Assessment” cross-cutting theme.
This collaboration brings together the Coalition’s practitioner-led research approach with Cambridge OCR’s mission of “Making Assessment Straightforward”.
Cambridge OCR is one of England’s major awarding bodies, part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, with deep expertise in curriculum, assessment, qualifications, and education reform. Its assessment and system-level perspective keeps the Coalition’s work grounded in the realities of schools, colleges, qualifications, and policy implementation. That aligns closely with the theme's focus on whether AI marking can meet the reliability bar set by teacher and examiner judgement, and on what AI feedback does to learner behaviour and progress.
Cambridge OCR’s conviction that the future of education should be “shaped by evidence and by teachers, not by assumption” complements the evidence-based research methodology fostered across the 400+ participating schools.
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Coalition Research Partnership includes:
• Early access to real-world AI implementation data from diverse educational contexts
• Direct relationships with school leaders and decision-makers actively evaluating AI solutions
• Speaking opportunities and thought leadership positioning at high-profile education events
• Policy influence during crucial AI guideline development phases
• Association with cutting-edge educational research informing government policy
The Coalition has remaining opportunities across multiple research strands, each offering similar benefits including access to practitioner-led insights, policy influence opportunities, and association with groundbreaking educational research.
Contact Rowland Wells, Client Relationship Manager, Educate Ventures Research, directly at rowland@educateventures.com for a discovery call to explore how working with the Coalition could align with your organisation's strategic objectives.
Join the Coalition
We are currently accepting new members for the Shape the Future Leaders Coalition. Contact us below for more information.
In order to be eligible:
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You must be a member of your trust or school group's senior leadership team, or equivalent. This includes business leaders in a trust or school group
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Please get in touch with the relevant member of the senior leadership team if the above does not describe you
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All schools are eligible, not just those in a trust or school group
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International schools are eligible, however, leaders should be aware the Coalition is a UK initiative and focussed on the UK education sector
Shape the Future Leaders Coalition is an initiative supported by Educate Ventures Research.