Artificial Intelligence Tools: Schools

Baroness Penn Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Once the certification is in place, I suspect that will be broadly available for parents to see. We are already starting the process of developing screen use guidance for five to 18 year-olds, which will gather evidence from experts on how screen use affects children and young people. That will make new, practical evidence-based guidance available for parents in the coming months.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, what response has the Department for Education given to the 130 early years experts and educators who wrote to the Secretary of State in September raising concerns about the digital reception baseline assessment, including that it is inconsistent with the guidance on early years screen time, which the Government have already developed and are building on with their work for over-fives now?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The reception baseline assessment does not contradict the department’s screen use guidance. It is a short, one-off assessment during which a pupil may use the screen for around 12 minutes, which is significantly less than the maximum one hour per day recommended. The content is slow-paced and safe. It was tested under the previous Government, with experts in early years, SEN and inclusion involved in its development, and there were extensive trials with thousands of reception-age pupils. It is not something that a young child would use on their own; it is administered by a teacher, and the pupil will never be alone with the device. It provides a more effective, well-tested way of getting that baseline assessment of where a child is when they come into school, which is so important to enable them to make progress while they are in school.