01
You ask in everyday words
No special commands and no report builder.
AI that takes the busywork,
and stops where it should
It answers questions, drafts reports and letters, and keeps admissions moving. And because your safeguarding lead will want to know where it stops, we’ve written all of that down too.
Where schools are with AI right now
Free AI tools
Staff paste pupil information into general AI apps. DfE guidance advises against putting personal data into tools like these.
AI in other school systems
Often useful. The questions to ask any supplier are what its AI can see and who approves what it does. Here are our answers.
Not yet
Waiting for the rules to settle. Chanceria works fully without AI, so you can choose the system now and the AI later.
Exactly what the AI can see
Never more than the person using it. Here it is, role by role.
- Any member of staff
- Attendance, behaviour, homework, marks, events and enquiries — but only what that person could already see.
- Teachers and above
- Asked where a pupil is, it can mention the time they were last given medication, so staff know to check the medical room.
- Any member of staff
- A family summary mentions whether a learning-support need was noted on the enquiry.
- Senior administrators only
- Allergies, medical notes, SEN status and EHCPs.
- Connected systems
- Can’t ask for medical records. Asking where a pupil is can include the time medication was given, as it can for teachers.
- No one, ever
- Safeguarding concerns, cases, referrals, body maps and the Single Central Record.
The AI companies we use process requests in the US and are on our supplier list. If a member of staff asks the AI to summarise or translate a parent’s message, that message is sent to them.
What it will and won’t do
These are built into the software, not just instructions we’ve given it.
It only answers set questions
The AI works from a fixed list of questions. It can’t go wandering through your records looking for its own answer.
Safeguarding is off limits
Nothing in the AI can open a concern, a referral or the Single Central Record. Your team keeps those to itself.
Medical and SEND detail stays with senior staff
Allergies, medical notes, SEN status and EHCPs reach the AI only when a senior administrator is the one asking.
It suggests; you decide
Ask it to do something and it shows you exactly what would change, then waits for your yes.
Nothing goes out without you
Letters, replies, reports and newsletters wait as drafts until a person sends them. The one exception is the optional instant reply to a new enquiry, and it says it’s automated.
It only knows your school
It works from your own records, and it’s told not to invent anything it can’t find there.
The numbers are worked out, not guessed
Attendance patterns and pupils at risk are calculated by the software. The AI just puts the result into words.
Pupils never use it
It’s a tool for staff. There’s no chatbot for children, and no AI in the parent portal.
Switch it off and everything still works
Every feature has a version that doesn’t use AI, so nothing stops if your school never touches it.
What happens when you ask a question
Five steps. The AI is only involved in two of them.
02
The AI picks the right approved question
It matches your words to one question from a set list. It can’t write its own. If the AI is off, Chanceria matches by keywords instead.
03
Chanceria checks you’re allowed to see the answer
Medical questions are for senior administrators only, and there is no question at all that opens safeguarding records.
04
It looks only at your school
The database only ever returns your own school’s records.
05
The AI sums up the answer
Using only what was found. It has nothing else to go on.
Where it actually helps
Twenty everyday jobs it takes off your team.
Across the school
- Ask a question
- Type a question and get the answer as a list.
- Morning briefing
- What needs your attention today, in one place.
- Do it for me
- It shows you what would change and waits for your OK.
- Your own AI assistant
- Connect your own assistant, with access you can withdraw.
Admissions
- Who to call first
- Families ranked by how likely they are to join, with reasons.
- Family summary
- Everything about a family before a visit, on one page.
- Reply helper
- A summary of the enquiry and a suggested reply.
- Instant acknowledgement
- Optional, clearly marked as automated, and never a decision.
Teaching
- Feedback helper
- Personal feedback for each pupil from marks and success criteria.
- Class insight
- What the class found hardest, to plan the next lesson.
- Report writing
- Report comments and parent updates drafted from real marks.
- Cover summary
- A short summary of a pupil for a cover teacher.
Pastoral and attendance
- Pupils at risk
- Attendance, marks, behaviour and homework looked at together.
- Attendance patterns
- Repeated absences and slipping attendance flagged early.
- Attendance follow-up
- Next steps following the DfE stages, with letters drafted.
- Gaps in learning
- Who is behind their target or their class, by subject.
Parent communication
- Tidy a draft
- A rushed message made clear, with names still filled in.
- Translate
- Messages in the language a family reads.
- Newsletter
- The week’s class news turned into a draft newsletter.
- Reply to parents
- A suggested reply based on the child’s actual record.
Our answers to the DfE’s thirteen standards
Updated January 2026. This isn’t a certificate, and we haven’t marked our own homework: where something rests on policy rather than the software, or where we simply haven’t got there yet, it says so.
01
Stated purpose
Built into the softwareA helper for school staff inside Chanceria. It isn’t a tutor, doesn’t mark work on its own, and isn’t used by pupils.
02
Educational use
Built into the softwareSaving staff time on admin, feedback and communication, always with a member of staff checking. It makes no decisions about grades or pastoral care.
03
Filtering
Built into the softwareHarmful content is prevented by design: the AI can only choose from approved questions and actions.
04
Monitoring and reporting
Built into the softwareAnything done through the AI is logged, just as if it were done by hand.
05
Security
Covered by policy and contractEach school’s data kept apart, access by role, encryption, and limited access for connected systems. We don’t hold Cyber Essentials or ISO 27001 yet.
06
Privacy and data protection
Covered by policy and contractYour school owns its data and we look after it under a data protection agreement. The AI uses only your records, and the AI companies we use process requests in the US.
07
Ownership of work
Covered by policy and contractPupils’ and staff’s work stays yours. We never use it to train AI.
08
Design and testing
Built into the softwareThe limits were designed in from the start. No emotion detection and no biometric profiling.
09
Governance
Covered by policy and contractResponsibilities, data protection and incident handling are set out in our contract. We haven’t had an independent audit yet.
10
Learning and thinking
Doesn’t apply to usThe AI isn’t used by pupils.
11
Emotional and social wellbeing
Doesn’t apply to usThe AI isn’t used by pupils, and there’s no chatbot for children.
12
Mental health
Doesn’t apply to usThe AI isn’t used by pupils. Pastoral concerns are always handled by people.
13
Manipulation
Doesn’t apply to usThe AI isn’t used by pupils. No adverts and no attention-grabbing tricks.
Questions safeguarding leads ask
Can the AI see safeguarding records?
No. No part of the AI can open them. One thing to know: if a member of staff asks the AI to summarise or translate a message from a parent, that message is sent to the AI — so use those buttons as you would forwarding the message.
Who can use the AI with medical or SEND information?
Full details — allergies, medical notes, SEN status and EHCPs — only senior administrators. Two smaller pieces of information can come up for other staff who can already see them: the time a pupil was last given medication, and whether a learning-support need was noted on an admissions enquiry.
Where does the information go, and is it used to train AI?
Requests are handled by the AI companies we use — Anthropic and OpenAI — in the US. Both are on our supplier list. We never use school data to train AI, and neither company uses it for training under their business terms.
Can it change our records?
Not by itself. It shows you what would change and waits for you to confirm. Drafts wait for you to send them — except the optional instant reply to new enquiries, which clearly says it’s automated.
What if it gets something wrong?
At worst it shows the wrong list or says it can’t help. It only ever shows information you’re already allowed to see, and it can’t act without you.
Do we have to use AI?
No. Every feature works without it, and because AI is paid for as you use it, using less costs less.