A report from GoStudent, the tutoring provider platform, has revealed a growing AI knowledge gap between the education students want and need to thrive in a technology-led world, and what’s currently being provided.

The survey, which questioned over 5,000 parents and students as well as 300 teachers across Europe, focused on artificial intelligence—the technology that’s already significantly changing how people access and learn information online.

While the importance of AI knowledge is becoming harder to ignore, UK schools are struggling to keep up with demand, according to the report. Despite 70% of teachers believing AI will define students’ careers, just half (53%) of students feel they’re being taught the skills needed for their dream job, with 58% believing their future job to be directly related to technology.

Students in the UK aren’t waiting around for the education system to catch up, however. 84% of school children are already using AI tools, and 90% want to learn how to use them better. But only 30% of UK children have access to AI-powered tools in the classroom, and just 35% say teachers are showing them how to use them.

Nearly 60% of students said they wished their teachers knew more about AI, and in response, are turning to other sources. 28% use social media, 20% learn among friends, and 24% of children are learning AI skills from mum or dad. But without sufficient guidance, students could not only miss out on learning opportunities, but also easily stumble upon AI’s potential risks.

As explained by Charbel Chraim, GoStudent’s 2025 UK Tutor of the Year, “When students are left to teach themselves AI, they’re left to navigate its potential dangers alone. One in five UK students don’t understand that AI can manipulate what they see online, and 22% admit to not even knowing what deepfake videos are.”

Recommended reading

• 70% of Students Use AI for Assignments, Turnitin Finds
• GCSE Exam Results to be Delivered via Digital App in New Pilot
• Scots Computing Science at Crisis Point as Teacher Numbers Crash

74% of teachers agree that schools should play a central role in teaching students how to use AI safely. This is corroborated by parents, with 70% of them feeling that UK schools are responsible for teaching children how to responsibly use AI tools.

The research also uncovered that over half (56%) of UK teachers now warn that children without access to AI will fall behind, creating a dangerous educational divide, with half believing students will need access to GenAI tools like ChatGPT and writing assistants like Grammarly within the next two years.

70% of UK teachers also agree that access to AI in education should be a basic human right—the highest score across all of the surveyed countries by GoStudent.