How to approve AI tools for your school
Most approval lists only ask where the data goes. It's worth asking what the tool does to the work too.
EdexiaUpdated 21 October 2026 · 4 min readAsk a teacher which AI tools they used this week and you'll usually get three or four names, and at least one the school has never looked at. That's why more schools now keep a list of approved tools. It tells staff what they can use, and gives the person who gets asked "is this allowed?" something to point to.
Good lists are starting to appear. Independent Schools NSW published a scale this year that sorts tools by how securely they handle a school's data. It's worth a look, and it gets the first question right: where does the data go?
We'd add a second question. A tool can keep every piece of data safe and still write a Year 10 essay in thirty seconds, or put a mark on work no teacher has read. So below are six questions in two groups, the four tiers they lead to, and a checker you can run on any tool.
Two things to check
- Data
Where does the data go?
Whether the school has an agreement covering the tool, whether student data stays in the school's account and out of the vendor's AI training, and whether it has been through a privacy and security check your sector accepts.
- Learning
What does it do to the work?
Whether it can produce the work a student hands in, whether teachers can see how students used it, and whether teachers still make the calls it touches, like marks and feedback.
Data comes first. If the school can't vouch for where student information goes, nothing else matters much, and the tool stays away from student names and work. Once the data side is clear, the learning questions decide how widely it can be used.
Four tiers
- Tier 1
Approved across the school
The data is covered and the tool leaves the thinking and the judging with people. Staff and students use it within each task's AI level.
- Tier 2
Approved for named tasks
The data is covered, but the tool can do part of the student's work or the teacher's judging. It's allowed for the tasks and year levels where that's the point, and the task says so.
- Tier 3
Staff only, nothing that identifies a student
The school can't vouch for the data. Staff can use it for planning and resources with no student names or work in it. Students don't use it for schoolwork.
- Tier 4
Not yet
Someone is still finding out. Nobody uses it with a class until they have.
Most general chatbots on personal accounts end up in tier 3. A whole-school licence with the right agreement can move the same chatbot to tier 1 or 2, so the tier belongs to how your school uses a tool, not just to the product.
Check a tool
Pick a tool your staff or students already use and answer for it. If you're not sure of an answer, say so. That's useful too, because it tells you what to ask the vendor.
Where the data goes
- Does the school have an agreement with the vendor that covers student data?A school licence sets the rules. A teacher's personal sign-up doesn't.
- Does student data stay in the school's account and out of the vendor's AI training?Check the terms, not the marketing page. Look for the words "train" and "improve our models".
- Has it been through a privacy and security check your sector accepts?In Australia that's often a Safer Technologies 4 Schools (ST4S) assessment, so each school doesn't start from scratch.
What it does to the work
- Can a student use it to produce work they hand in as their own?If it can, each task's AI level decides whether that's allowed, so it can't be approved for everything.
- Can teachers see how students used it?Seeing the chat or the drafting lets a teacher allow it without guessing.
- Do teachers still make the calls it touches, like marks and feedback?Students and parents want to know a person read the work.
Pick a tool your staff or students already use and answer for it.
Tiers and AI levels work together
The tier says which tools are allowed. The AI level on each task says how much AI the task allows. A tier 1 tool on a level 0 task, like an in-class essay, still doesn't get used. A tier 2 tool that can draft writing fits a level 2 task where drafting with AI is the point. Put both in your AI policy so staff and students read them in the same place.
Running the list
- Give it an owner. One person keeps the list. Teaching and learning, ICT and wellbeing each get a say before a tool moves up a tier.
- Make it easy to find. A list staff can't find in ten seconds won't get used. Link it from the staff handbook and the AI policy.
- Make asking easy. Teachers will find new tools every term. A short form that puts a tool into tier 4 while it's checked beats a ban nobody follows.
- Tell students and parents. Students need to know which tools they can use for schoolwork. Parents mostly want to know their child's work isn't feeding someone's AI.
- Review it every term. Tools add AI features without asking. A note-taking app approved in February can be writing essays by June.
Where Edexia fits
We built Edexia to pass both checks. It's ST4S assessed, each school's data stays in its own instance on Australian servers, and we don't train our AI on it. Students can use an optional tutor that explains things and asks questions back but can't write the work for them, and teachers can read every chat. Writing replay shows how a typed piece came together, and teachers decide when feedback reaches students.
Common questions
What should a school check before approving an AI tool?
Two things. Where the data goes: an agreement that covers student data, data kept out of the vendor's AI training, and a privacy and security check such as ST4S. And what the tool does to the work: whether it can produce work students hand in, whether teachers can see how it was used, and whether teachers still make the calls on marks and feedback.
Can students use ChatGPT at school?
It depends on the school's agreement and the task. On personal accounts, most schools treat general chatbots as staff-only with nothing that identifies a student. Under a school licence with the right terms, a school may allow them for tasks whose AI level permits it.
What is ST4S?
Safer Technologies 4 Schools, a national program that assesses digital products used in Australian and New Zealand schools against a common privacy and security standard.
How often should the approved list be reviewed?
Each term is a good rhythm. Tools add AI features often, so a tool approved months ago may do something new now.