Exeter launches free AI courses for teachers and sixth-formers

TL;DR:

• The University of Exeter has launched two free online courses on Learn.Exeter — one for sixth-form and college teachers, one for A-level and BTEC students — designed to address what the university calls a clear AI digital divide.
• The courses are part of an EPSRC-funded widening-participation project, were developed with input from undergraduate students, and reference exam-board guidance on AI use in coursework.
• The teacher course is split into two 45-minute sessions; the student course is a single 45-minute session. Both will be freely available online for two years.

Conversations with teachers and advisers surfaced ongoing confusion about appropriate AI use in post-16 coursework — which exam boards now permit, but which staff often feel ill-equipped to govern. Nicola Sinclair, Exeter’s associate director for access, participation, and outreach, framed the divide bluntly: “Young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to get clear advice and support about the use of artificial intelligence.”

Why the targeting matters

The widening-participation framing is significant. Free online AI training exists already at scale (LinkedIn Learning, FutureLearn, Coursera, dozens of vendor-led offers), but coverage is uneven and rarely aligned to UK exam-board rules. By anchoring its courses to exam-board guidance, Exeter is filling a UK-specific gap: how to use ChatGPT and equivalent LLMs in A-level and BTEC work without crossing into prohibited assistance. Dan Fenton, who led on implementation, said the materials specifically demonstrate how LLMs work, so teachers can spot misinformation and prevent misuse.

UK angle: layering with other widening-participation policy

Exeter’s launch lands alongside several public-sector AI literacy moves this month: the AI Cyber Security Code of Practice, ICO’s five-step AI cyber guidance, and continued NCSC framework updates. The schools-and-colleges layer has been slower to materialise — and university-led free courses, while limited in classroom reach, are easier to deploy than national curriculum changes that depend on DfE prioritisation.

Looking forward

Two years of free availability gives a useful evaluation window. The interesting questions are uptake (how many sixth forms in the lowest-IDACI quintiles actually enrol), behaviour change (whether confident teacher use reduces unattributed AI submissions or improves coursework quality), and replication (whether other UK universities offer comparable courses with the same widening-participation focus). For UK SMEs in EdTech, the procurement-shaped signal is that universities are no longer waiting for vendor offers to fill a gap they can fill themselves.