Under Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, governing bodies and proprietors are responsible for appropriate online-safety arrangements, including filtering and monitoring. KCSIE 2026 also points schools to government guidance on using generative AI safely.
AI Compass 4 Schools turns that context into six practical dimensions so leaders can see their position, gaps and evidence needs.
Review the official sourcesHow the problem shows up
They appear as disconnected decisions, uneven practice and missing evidence across leadership, safeguarding, technology, teaching and governance.
Staff and pupils may be using AI tools that have not been consistently identified or approved.
Filtering and monitoring may not have been reviewed against new generative AI uses and limitations.
Policies may mention online safety but not set practical expectations for staff or pupil AI use.
Training may be informal, inconsistent or hard to evidence to governors and trustees.
Pupil safety, literacy and inclusion may be handled differently across classrooms, subjects or schools.
Leaders may know activity is happening but lack a joined-up record of ownership, decisions, actions and review dates.
The six governance dimensions
Move from scattered activity to an explainable position: what is happening, what is controlled, what evidence exists, what is missing and who owns the next action.
Which AI tools and use cases are active, and who approved them?
Do filtering, monitoring and technical safeguards account for generative AI?
Are expectations for AI use documented and reflected in everyday practice?
Do staff understand the expectations, and can the school evidence training?
Are pupils supported to use AI safely and critically, with inclusion considered?
Can leaders and governors show ownership, decisions, actions and review dates?
The partnership
AI Compass 4 Schools combines Talisman AI's governance assessment and AI Wayfinder methodology with Pro Apprenticeships' experience as an Ofsted Outstanding training provider, linking diagnosis and direction to a credible route for building staff capability.
Talisman AI
Specialist AI consulting firm and creator of the AI Wayfinder suite. Provides the assessment methodology, school-specific analysis, reports and improvement direction.
Pro Apprenticeships
Brings education, apprenticeship and workforce-development expertise. Where AI Compass finds staff capability gaps, can discuss training routes, subject to eligibility and school or trust needs.
See training routesRoutes and prices
Every route uses the same 24-question assessment (about 20 minutes) and produces outputs from the school's own responses. Explore is the low-risk entry point but not a required first step: schools can go straight to Enable or Embed. Each higher route includes everything below it.
Showing Primary prices
Route 1 · Explore
Best for a low-risk, school-specific baseline before deciding what next.
Includes
Does not include
Route 2 · Enable
RecommendedBest when leaders and governors need a prioritised plan and usable evidence, not just a score.
Includes
Route 3 · Embed
Best when the school also needs practical governance documents.
Includes
Move to any higher AI Compass route by the end of the same academic year and what you've paid is credited. You pay only the difference. Prices shown are total product prices, not upgrade fees.
Explore is £95 for purchases up to 31 December 2026 and £125 from 1 January 2027.
What Explore gives you
Explore gives the governance band, all six dimension scores and three priority gaps. Enable carries the same diagnosis into a Governor Summary, 90-Day Roadmap and wider evidence set.
Explore result
32/ 72
Dimension scores (each out of 12)
What Enable adds: six reports
The report set turns the diagnosis into usable evidence, ownership and improvement direction for leaders, governors and trustees.
Overall band, six dimension scores and a narrative of the current position.
Helps you: set a defensible baseline and see strengths and weaknesses.
Record of identified AI tools and uses with fields for ownership, approval and review.
Helps you: replace assumptions with a record leadership can maintain.
Prioritised gaps, why each matters and the response to consider.
Helps you: separate urgent gaps from lower-priority improvements.
Priority gaps turned into practical actions across the next term.
Helps you: move to action with a clear order of work, suggested owners and review points.
Concise briefing on position, priority gaps, ownership and next steps.
Helps you: brief governors or trustees without them interpreting the full assessment.
One place for decisions, controls, actions and supporting material.
Helps you: build a clear evidence trail for assurance conversations.
AI Compass · Enable · Governor Summary
Current position
Some controls are established, but leadership ownership, staff capability and evidence need focused attention.
Three highest-priority gaps
What Embed adds: nine templates
Embed includes the Explore result and all six Enable reports, plus nine working documents drafted from the school's findings, so leaders start from a relevant draft, not a blank page.
The school remains responsible for reviewing, approving and adopting each one.
Approved use, professional judgement, data handling, transparency, prohibited activity, escalation.
Sets clear, reviewable expectations for staff.
Age-appropriate expectations, permitted and prohibited use, academic honesty, safety, reporting concerns.
Explains responsible use consistently across classes.
Training, participation, dates, evidence, needs and review.
Shows what development has happened and where more is needed.
Safeguarding, misuse, accuracy or data concerns with ownership, response, actions and closure.
Captures incidents consistently.
Tools needing data-protection consideration, with ownership, status, decisions and review dates.
Keeps visibility without replacing the school's formal DPIA process.
Clauses linking AI risks to existing safeguarding responsibilities and escalation.
Shows where AI concerns sit in current practice.
Purpose, responsibilities, decision interfaces, reporting and review.
Clarifies who coordinates AI governance.
Oversight expectations, delegated ownership, reporting and review points.
Records how governors or trustees oversee AI.
Generative AI within online safety, including acceptable use, filtering and monitoring, and review.
Connects AI to wider online-safety arrangements.
Compare
Explore establishes the facts. Enable (recommended) adds the evidence set and prioritised plan. Embed adds working templates. For continuing expert support, see Expert below.
| Feature | Explore£95Primary or Secondary | RecommendedEnablePrimary £445 Secondary £645 |
EmbedPrimary £695 Secondary £995 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment output | |||
| Governance score and assurance band | Included | Included | Included |
| Six-dimension score breakdown | Included | Included | Included |
| Three highest-priority gaps | Included | Included | Included |
| Six school-specific reports | |||
| AI Governance Score Report | Not included | Included | Included |
| AI Tools Register | Not included | Included | Included |
| Detailed Gap Report | Not included | Included | Included |
| 90-Day Roadmap | Not included | Included | Included |
| Governor Summary | Not included | Included | Included |
| Governance Evidence Pack | Not included | Included | Included |
| Nine governance templates | |||
| Staff AI Acceptable Use Policy | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Pupil AI Acceptable Use Policy | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Staff AI Training Log | Not included | Not included | Included |
| AI Incident Log | Not included | Not included | Included |
| AI Tools DPIA Tracker | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Safeguarding Policy AI Addendum | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Named AI Lead Role Card | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Governor AI Oversight Resolution | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Online Safety Policy AI Addendum | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Additional | |||
| Staff AI Training Route Map | Not included | Included | Included |
| Ready-to-deliver staff awareness session (facilitator notes, staff handout, slides and attendance log) | Not included | Not included | Included |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways. The feature column stays in place.
Expert: hands-on support
Expert includes everything in Embed, plus hands-on guidance to interpret findings, prioritise action, overcome barriers and shape how AI is introduced, governed and developed around the school's priorities.
Everything in Embed, plus
For MATs and school groups
Schools in the same trust may use different tools, controls and starting points, so each completes its own assessment and gets its own result. The trust can buy centrally with one coordinated invoice and an optional consolidated trust view.
Common themes without replacing school-specific evidence.
Optional workforce development from Pro Apprenticeships
AI Compass shows where capability needs attention. Pro Apprenticeships can discuss routes from an introduction through to role-based apprenticeships and leadership development.
Self-paced · 5 hours · £100
A practical start on common AI tools and where AI fits.
Level 3 apprenticeship · 15 to 18 months + 3 months EPA
For staff producing school or trust communications and content with AI responsibly.
Level 4 apprenticeship · 18 months + 3 months EPA
For an employee or new hire building AI and automation solutions with governance, ethics and risk in mind.
Level 5 · three units, 5 weeks each
For heads, trust leaders and senior managers making decisions on AI strategy, adoption, procurement, governance and change.
Training is separate from the AI Compass purchase. Apprenticeship funding, employer contributions and eligibility depend on the learner, employer and current funding rules. Pro Apprenticeships will confirm the right route with the school or trust.
Official sources
KCSIE 2026 applies from 1 September 2026. It points schools to government guidance on safe generative AI use and reinforces governors' and proprietors' role in online safety, filtering and monitoring.
Schools are not required to adopt AI, and Ofsted does not inspect AI as a standalone subject. Where AI is relevant, the question is whether leaders and governors can explain the current position, show decisions and evidence, and identify what still needs attention.
Explore for visibility, Enable for the recommended plan and evidence set, or Embed for a working governance framework. Results in days, not months.
Upgrade credit applies within the same academic year. Explore is £95 to 31 December 2026 and £125 from 1 January 2027.