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AI and the Curriculum Review
Master ChatGPT's Privacy Setting (Sponsored Post)
Neil Almond
November 11th, 2025
Hey human,
What’s been happening in education / AI this week:
📚 AI+education news
AI and the Curriculum > Here is what the Curriculum Review had to say about AI.
The current National Curriculum will be revised and the final version published by Spring 2027, with first teaching from September 2028.
In computing / digital: the review says the existing GCSE in computer science should be replaced with a broader computing GCSE “that prepares young people for applying digital technology and data across a wide range of fields, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI)”.
For 16-18 (post-GCSE) education: there is exploration of a new qualification in data science and AI (alongside broader computing), recognising the growing importance of these fields.
In primary and secondary, greater emphasis on digital/media literacy where pupils should learn to recognise, evaluate and challenge misinformation, including content produced by automated systems or generative AI.
🌍 Wider AI updates
Notebook LLM > Flashcards and quizzes are now available on the mobile platform.
A U.S. study of 100,000+ undergraduates shows that first-generation students continue to lag behind peers in GPA, internships, and early-career outcomes despite identical formal access.
The cause isn’t ability or motivation. It’s what the authors call the hidden curriculum: the unwritten rules and informal strategies that govern success in selective institutions. E.g. knowing how to network, approach faculty, or signal ambition.
In the AI experiment, students used chatbots acting as college advisors. Two versions were tested: a Passive AI, which only answered questions, and an Active AI, which also introduced hidden-curriculum strategies such as networking or mentoring.
The researchers conclude that AI guidance systems amplify existing inequalities when they remain reactive, but can reduce them when designed to anticipate and reveal tacit knowledge through structured, scaffolded dialogue.
🪧Sponsored Post
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*Full disclosure, I often support the AI Confident Team on their education offer. If you sign up through this Sponsored Post, I will get a small commission. Think of it like an affiliative link. I do stand by the work they do!
🎯Prompt/Tip
Protect Your Privacy > Turn this on!
That familiar saying — “If you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product” — applies here too.
When you switch “Improve the model for everyone” on, you’re allowing OpenAI to use small, anonymised snippets of your chats to help train future models. This helps make the system more accurate and useful, including for education-related prompts.
When you switch it off, your conversations aren’t used for training at all. You still get full access to the model, but nothing you write feeds back into it. While I never recommend that teachers input the personal data of students or colleagues, this is at least a useful fail safe.
The image below shows you what the control looks like.
Till next week.
Mr A 🦾
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