Writing AI guidance for teachers and students

Why guidance matters

Without guidance, every teacher makes up their own rules. One teacher bans AI completely, another encourages it and a third does not know it is being used. Students get mixed messages and some are punished for things others are praised for. Parents do not know what to expect. Clear guidance at institution level, consistent with whatever your department has issued, fixes this.

Good guidance is short, specific and explains its reasons. It does not need to cover every tool or every situation. It needs to tell people what is expected and why.

Start with your department's position

Before you write anything, find out what your department or education authority has already said about AI use, student data and assessment. Your guidance must fit within it. If nothing has been issued, say so in your guidance and keep it modest: a local, interim approach that you will review. Never claim that your guidance reflects a departmental rule unless you have that rule in writing.

Involve the people affected

Guidance written by one person in an office tends to be ignored. Before finalising it:

• ask a few teachers from different subjects how they and their students already use AI
• ask some older students what they think is fair
• consider how parents will understand it

This takes little time and produces guidance that people actually follow.

A simple structure

Most institutions can cover what matters in one or two pages, under five headings.

1. Purpose. One or two sentences: why the guidance exists. For example, to help students learn, to keep assessment fair and to protect personal data.

2. For teachers. What teachers may use AI for and what checks they must make. For example:

• AI may be used to prepare first drafts of lesson plans, worksheets and quizzes. The teacher checks every fact, answer and example before use.
• No student personal data (names, results, photographs, behaviour notes) goes into any AI tool unless your department has provided an approved tool for that purpose.
• AI must not be used to mark work or write reports on individual students without the teacher reading and taking responsibility for every judgement.

3. For students. What is allowed, what is not and what to do when unsure. A clear way to do this is to set levels that teachers can apply to each task:

• No AI: the work must be entirely the student's own, for example in-class tests.
• AI for help, not answers: students may use AI to explain a topic or check understanding, but the work they submit must be written by them.
• AI allowed with acknowledgement: students may use AI as part of the task, but must say how they used it.

Teachers state the level for each piece of work, so students are never guessing.

4. Safety. Remind students not to share personal information with chatbots, to be careful about AI answers on health or personal problems and to talk to a trusted adult if they see harmful content or are targeted by fake images or messages. Make clear that creating deepfakes of other students or staff is a serious disciplinary matter.

5. When things go wrong. Explain what happens if a student breaks the rules, with a focus on learning rather than only punishment. Also explain how a student can challenge an accusation (module 5 explains why AI-detection tools should not be the only evidence).

Write it plainly

• Use short sentences. Avoid technical terms or explain them simply.
• Provide an Urdu version, checked by a fluent speaker, so that students and parents can read it in the language they are most comfortable with.
• Give examples of allowed and not-allowed use for common tasks.
• Put a review date on it. AI tools change quickly and so will your understanding.

Help teachers apply it

Guidance only works if teachers understand it and apply it consistently. A short staff meeting where teachers try a few examples together ("Is this allowed at level 2?") will do more than a long document. Encourage teachers to talk to students about why the rules exist, not just what they are.

Try it

Using the five headings above, draft a one-page AI guidance note for an imaginary secondary school. Keep it under 400 words. Then ask an AI assistant to identify anything unclear or missing from your draft. Decide which of its suggestions you agree with and why.

Check yourself

1. What must you check before writing your own guidance?
2. What are the three levels of AI use suggested for student tasks?
3. Why should guidance include how a student can challenge an accusation?

Answers: (1) What your department or education authority has already said about AI, data and assessment. (2) No AI; AI for help, not answers; AI allowed with acknowledgement. (3) Accusations can be wrong, especially if based on unreliable detection tools, so students need a fair way to respond.