Insight Blog Returns with Answers on AI, Data Law and School Requests
Schools are being asked to make more decisions, more quickly, with more risk attached than ever before. A new AI tool appears. A parent asks for data. A complaint grows into several strands of correspondence. A policy that felt current last term suddenly needs another look.
That is why the Insight blog is returning.
The refreshed focus is simple: answer the questions clients are already asking. Not abstract questions. Not theory for its own sake. The blog will concentrate on the issues that arise in real school life, where legal duties, governance, safeguarding, technology and public trust all meet.
Over the coming weeks, the series will look at three areas that are already shaping conversations across schools and trusts:
Safe and effective use of AI in schools
The impact of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 on schools
Practical ways to manage rising SARs, FOI requests and complaints
Each post will aim to give clear context, explain the key risks, and suggest sensible steps schools can take. The goal is not to add more noise. It is to help turn complex issues into manageable decisions.
Why the Insight blog is returning now
The pace of change in education has increased sharply. Schools are expected to assess new tools, respond to information requests, protect personal data, communicate with families, support staff, and keep careful records. Many of these tasks are not new, but the pressure around them has changed.
AI is a good example. A few years ago, most school questions about artificial intelligence were theoretical. Now they are practical. Can staff use AI to help draft lesson resources? Can pupils use it for homework? What happens if personal data is entered into an AI tool? Should a school block a platform, approve it, or set limits?
Data protection has also moved on. Schools have long worked within the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 brings a fresh need to review what has changed, what remains the same, and where school policies or practices may need updating as provisions take effect.
At the same time, many schools are seeing more requests and complaints. Subject access requests can involve large volumes of emails and records. Freedom of Information requests can arrive alongside wider concerns. Complaints may overlap with safeguarding, special educational needs, exclusions, behaviour, admissions, employment or governance.
These issues rarely sit neatly in one box. A single matter may involve:
Personal data
School records
Staff workload
Parental communication
Governance duties
Legal time limits
Reputational risk
The wellbeing of pupils and staff
The refreshed Insight blog will reflect that reality. It will focus on joined-up guidance that recognises the pressures schools face every day.
A practical focus on common client questions
The series will be built around repeated questions that come in from schools, academies, trusts and education leaders. Some questions are technical. Others are more about judgement.
For example, schools are asking:
What should we check before staff use a new AI tool?
Can we use AI to support administrative tasks without creating data risks?
How does the new data law affect existing school policies?
What is the difference between a SAR and an FOI request?
How do we manage a request when it covers hundreds of emails?
When does a complaint become unreasonable or unmanageable?
What records should we keep when decisions are challenged?
The blog will not replace tailored advice. Every school has its own context, and some issues need case-specific support. But many questions have common themes. Clear guidance can help schools spot risks early, ask better internal questions, and decide when they need further advice.
The tone will be practical. Where a topic is complex, the blog will break it down into plain English. Where a legal duty applies, the blog will explain what that means in school settings. Where there is a risk of overreaction, the blog will look for a balanced approach.
This content is for general information only and should not be treated as legal advice for a specific situation.
Upcoming topic one explores safe and effective AI in schools
AI is already changing how people work and learn. In schools, that creates both opportunity and risk.
Used carefully, AI may help staff draft first versions of routine resources, adapt text for different reading levels, generate ideas, or reduce time spent on some administrative tasks. It may also help pupils learn how to question sources, compare responses, and think critically about technology.
Used carelessly, AI can create serious problems. Schools need to think about accuracy, bias, confidentiality, intellectual property, safeguarding, assessment integrity and data protection. A tool that looks helpful can still be unsuitable if it stores personal data in unclear ways or produces unreliable material.
The Insight blog will explore the practical questions that matter most, including how schools can:
Set clear rules for staff and pupil use
Decide which tools are allowed, restricted or blocked
Avoid entering personal or sensitive data into unsuitable systems
Check AI-generated content before use
Explain expectations to pupils and families
Support staff who feel unsure about the technology
Keep assessment fair and meaningful
A central theme will be proportionate governance. Schools do not need panic or blanket fear. They need clear thinking, sensible boundaries and a shared understanding of risk.
The blog will also look at the difference between using AI as a support tool and relying on it for decisions. That distinction matters. A member of staff may use a tool to help draft a resource, then review it carefully. That is different from allowing a system to make decisions about pupils, staff or families without proper human oversight.
Good AI practice in schools starts with a simple question: what is the tool doing, and what could go wrong if it gets things wrong?
Upcoming topic two explains the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 is likely to raise questions for schools that already manage significant data responsibilities. Schools hold large amounts of personal data relating to pupils, parents, carers, staff, governors, trustees, volunteers and visitors. Some of that data is highly sensitive.
A change in data law does not mean every existing process becomes wrong overnight. UK schools have already built their work around familiar data protection duties, including fairness, transparency, security, accuracy and accountability. Those principles remain central to good practice.
The new Act does mean schools should pay attention. The Insight blog will help explain what the changes may mean in everyday terms, especially where schools need to review:
Privacy notices
Data protection policies
Records of processing
Consent wording where consent is used
Contracts with suppliers
Data sharing arrangements
Direct marketing or communication practices
Subject access request processes
Staff training materials
One useful starting point is to separate legal change from operational change. A legal update may only affect a school if it touches something the school actually does. For example, a data sharing rule matters most where a school shares data with external bodies or service providers. A change to request handling matters most where the school receives and processes requests.
The blog will aim to explain the Act without assuming that every reader has time to read legislation in full. It will focus on what schools need to understand, what they may need to check, and what can wait until further guidance or implementation detail is available.
There will also be attention on governance. In a school or trust, data protection is not just a task for one person. It involves leaders, governors or trustees, administrators, IT teams, teaching staff and external providers. Policies only work when people understand how to apply them.
Upcoming topic three looks at SARs, FOI requests and complaints
Many schools are dealing with more information requests and complaints than they used to. The reasons vary. Families may be more aware of their rights. Communication may happen across more channels. Disputes may become more complex. Staff may have to search emails, management systems, paper files and archived records.
The Insight blog will look at three areas that often overlap.
Subject access requests need careful handling
A subject access request, often called a SAR, allows an individual to ask for their personal data. In schools, SARs can involve emails, pupil records, behaviour records, safeguarding notes, special educational needs documents, meeting notes and other records.
The challenge is not only finding information. Schools also need to review it carefully. Some information may relate to other people. Some may be exempt. Some may need redaction. Some may need context so it is understood properly.
A good SAR process helps schools respond within the required timeframe while protecting the rights of others.
FOI requests involve recorded information
Freedom of Information requests apply to public authorities, which includes many schools. These requests are about recorded information held by the school, not explanations or opinions created from scratch.
FOI requests can cover policies, spending, contracts, correspondence, governance records and other information. Some information may be exempt from disclosure, but schools need to recognise the request, search properly, and record their decision-making.
The blog will explore how schools can respond calmly and consistently, without treating every request as a conflict.
Complaints need structure and good records
Complaints can be time-consuming, especially when they arrive alongside requests for information. A clear complaints policy helps, but the process also depends on tone, record keeping and decision-making.
Schools need to know where the boundaries are. They should respond fairly and openly, but they are not required to answer the same point endlessly or allow unreasonable conduct to disrupt school life.
Future posts will look at ways to manage this pressure without losing sight of the people involved. That includes:
Keeping a clear timeline
Separating issues that need different processes
Recording decisions and reasons
Using calm, factual language
Avoiding informal promises that are hard to meet
Knowing when to escalate internally
Supporting staff who are handling difficult correspondence
The recurring message will be simple: process protects everyone. It protects pupils and families by giving them a fair route to raise concerns. It protects staff by setting boundaries. It protects leaders and governors by creating a clear record of what happened and why.
What readers can expect from the series
The refreshed series will not try to cover everything at once. Each post will take one issue and handle it carefully.
Readers can expect posts that are:
Clear enough to read between meetings
Detailed enough to be useful
Grounded in school realities
Focused on practical judgement
Written in plain English
Careful about legal and governance risk
Some posts will explain new developments. Others will answer recurring questions. Some will offer checklists or examples of good practice. Where an issue carries uncertainty, the blog will say so.
This matters because schools often need to act before every detail feels settled. A headteacher, trust leader, data protection lead or governor may need to make a decision with limited time and competing priorities. Good guidance should reduce confusion, not add to it.
The blog will also recognise that compliance is only part of the picture. A school can meet a deadline and still damage trust if communication is poor. It can adopt a new tool and still create risk if staff do not understand the limits. It can follow a complaints policy and still make matters harder if records are unclear.
Good practice sits in the space between legal duty and human judgement. That is where the series will spend most of its time.
Stay tuned for clear answers to current school challenges
The Insight blog is returning with a clear purpose: to help schools make sense of the questions that keep coming up.
AI, data law, SARs, FOI requests and complaints are not passing concerns. They are now part of everyday school governance. Managed well, they can be handled with confidence. Left unclear, they can drain time, create risk and undermine trust.
The coming posts will offer practical guidance, careful explanation and a steady view of what schools can do next. Stay tuned for the series, and expect clear answers to the questions schools are asking now.
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