Oak Academy asks teachers to trial AI-powered lesson planning tool
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is recruiting 450 primary school teachers to try out Oak National Academy’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered lesson planning assistant.
The new trial of Aila, Oak Academy’s AI-powered lesson planning assistant, will be independently evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and is expected to report in autumn 2026.
NFER is recruiting 450 Key Stage 2 teachers from 86 primary schools. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one will be asked to use Aila for planning their lessons across all subjects and the other will be asked to continue with their lesson planning as standard.
The trial will consider teacher workload, measuring the average time spent planning in one term and lesson quality, which will be assessed by an independent panel. The panel will not be told whether Aila was used in the lesson planning.
John Roberts, Interim CEO at Oak National Academy, explains: “AI has real potential to support in this area. But we only save teachers time if what it produces is reliable, safe and high-quality. Aila, our AI-powered lesson assistant, was purpose built by a team of expert teachers and engineers to help tackle this challenge.
“We’re really excited to put Aila to the test in this EEF trial, and learn what’s working and what could make it even more impactful for our teachers.”
Launched in 2024, Aila supports teachers to create personalized lesson plans and teaching resources tailored to the needs of their pupils. Aila aims to save time whilst supporting high-quality lesson planning and can cater to different literacy levels, or incorporate local examples depending on teacher needs.
The trial comes shortly after the EEF shared research into teacher use of ChatGPT, which found a potential 31 percent reduction in lesson planning time for those using the software. The EEF also highlighted the need for additional research into how AI can be used to support teachers without lowering quality.
Emily Yeomans, co-CEO at The Education Endowment Foundation, says: “Our latest trial is an exciting opportunity to explore if generative AI tools like Aila can genuinely reduce workload without compromising the quality of teaching. As interest in AI continues to grow, it’s vital that we continue to build a clear and rigorous evidence base to guide how it’s used in classrooms.”
