On the 12 June 2026, we had the pleasure to host a symposium of senior school leaders and education leaders in Scotland at the Informatics Forum, The University of Edinburgh. Over 70 delegates joined us from all across the country, some travelling from as far as the Highland Council, to share experiences and concerns on the use of AI in schools, and collaboratively build consensus on the way forward for Scottish education.
The event was a collaboration with Stuart Caddell, headteacher at Gairloch High School (Highland Council) and founder of AICE.scot, to tackle fragmentation and isolation in practices and discussions around AI in Scottish schools. The symposium was therefore born to gather senior leaders in education and offer them a space to openly discuss any concerns as well hopes, and identify the next steps to ensure that informed and responsible action is taken across schools in Scotland on the topic of AI.
Andreas Schleicher (OECD Director of Skills and Education) joined us online with the paper “Stronger Together: Why collaborative networks matter for AI in Education” to launch the AI Collaborative of Educators (AICE.scot). Our panels, composed of Professor Judy Robertson, Jedidah Ajala (student at the University of Edinburgh), Stuart Clark (Headteacher at Newton Mearns High School), Laurence Findlay (President of ADES), Anne Robertson (Director of Edina) and Stuart Caddell, explored the topic of AI in schools with a focus on curriculum and governance, including student perspectives and procurement issues.
Education companies and organisations across Scotland joined us to present their educational resources: CALL Scotland, Children’s Parliament, Digital Skills Education, Equally Safe Online, Self Evaluation Framework for Schools (represented by Professor David Lundie, University of Glasgow), The Young Women’s Movement, Trellis. We have also had the chance to watch two monologues by young people from Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre portraying student perspectives on the use of AI in schools. The monologues are based on real research with young people and can be watched on YouTube: These monologues reveal what young people really think about AI.
The day included plenty of time for group discussions. While the symposium did not aim to offer definitive answers as much as open the floor to conversation and encourage collaboration, it was clear from the group discussions that Scottish educators wish for unified guidance and action, and are keen to collaborate with each other on a national level.
We look forward to following up the feedback received during the event and collaborating further with senior leadership across the country to offer research-informed support to all schools in Scotland.
Featured image: Informatics Forum, University of Edinburgh by Suhongjia, CC BY-SA 3.0.