An acceptable use policy is the bit of your AI policy staff actually read. It needs to be short, clear and practical — a set of rules someone can remember on a Tuesday morning. Here's what to include.
How this differs from the full policy
Your full AI policy is a governance document for leaders and governors. The staff acceptable use section is the practical, front-facing version — ideally one page, written for a busy teacher, not a lawyer.
What staff may use AI for
Lead with the positives. Staff are far more likely to follow rules that also tell them what's encouraged:
- Drafting lesson plans, resources and worksheets
- Generating differentiated versions of existing materials
- Drafting letters, newsletters and routine communications
- Summarising documents and long email threads
- Rewording text for different reading ages or audiences
- Ideas, planning and thinking-through problems
What staff must not do
- Enter pupil names or any identifying pupil information
- Enter staff personal data, safeguarding details or medical information
- Let AI make decisions about pupils — assessment, safeguarding, SEND provision
- Send AI output to parents or pupils without reading and editing it
- Give pupils access to adult AI tools unsupervised
- Use unapproved tools without checking first
The one rule that carries most of the weight: if you wouldn't put it on a postcard, don't put it in an AI tool. Staff remember that far better than a paragraph about data controllers — and it covers most real-world risk.
The professional judgement clause
Every acceptable use policy needs this: AI drafts, a professional decides. Nothing generated by AI goes to a parent, a pupil, or into a pupil's record without a member of staff reading, checking and taking responsibility for it. This single principle prevents most of what schools worry about.
Making it stick
A policy in a shared drive achieves nothing. What works: a one-page summary in the staffroom, five minutes in a staff meeting when it changes, covering it in induction for new staff, and someone named as the person to ask. See what CPD staff need first.
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Get AI support for your schoolFrequently asked questions
What should an AI acceptable use policy for staff include?
What staff may use AI for (planning, resources, drafting communications, summarising, rewording), what they must not do (no identifying pupil data, no AI decisions about pupils, no unedited output to parents, no unsupervised pupil access), and a professional judgement clause that AI drafts while a human decides.
What's the simplest AI rule for school staff?
If you wouldn't put it on a postcard, don't put it in an AI tool. Staff remember this far better than technical data protection language, and it covers most real-world risk around pupil and staff personal information.
Can teachers use AI for pupil reports?
Teachers can use AI to help draft report comments, but without entering identifying pupil information, and every comment must be read, edited and approved by the teacher who takes professional responsibility for it. AI drafts; the professional decides.
How do you make an AI policy stick with staff?
A policy in a shared drive achieves nothing. Use a one-page summary in the staffroom, five minutes in a staff meeting when it changes, coverage in induction for new staff, and a named person staff can ask when unsure.